Rams now own the two biggest dead cap hits in NFL history

To say the Los Angeles Rams have made a few contractual mistakes in the last three years would be a major understatement. Their deals for Brandin Cooks, Todd Gurley and Jared Goff were costly when they were handed out, but now that none of the three players will be on the team in 2021, it looks significantly worse.

By agreeing to trade Goff to the Lions on Saturday night, the Rams will incur a dead cap charge of $22.2 million in 2021. That’s the largest single-season dead cap hit in NFL history, surpassing … Cooks’ of $21.8 million from last year.

Here are the five largest single-season dead cap hits taken on by a team in league history.

You’re probably wondering why Gurley’s name isn’t on that list after the Rams cut him last offseason, taking on a boatload of dead money. The reason is he was designated a post-June 1 cut, which spread his $20.15 million dead cap charge across the 2020 and 2021 seasons.

The Rams are paying for these contracts in a big way, severely limiting their flexibility in free agency. Had the Rams not signed Goff or Gurley to extensions, they could’ve moved on from both players without taking on any dead money.

But here they are paying both players to be on other teams because they chose to sign them much earlier than necessary.