The Rams say they are “very close” to reaching a deal with defensive tackle Aaron Donald and they’ve reportedly made some moves to free up money they can devote to such a contract.
Field Yates of ESPN reports that the team has restructured the contracts of left tackle Andrew Whitworth and wide receiver Robert Woods. The moves reportedly clear $7 million in cap space for this season and that likely comes in handy for a team with little cap space to use if the mega-deal that Donald is set to receive will cause his cap number to rise this year.
The details of the restructure aren’t known, but the moves will likely involve converting some salary into bonuses that can spread cap hits over future seasons. Whitworth has an $8 million base salary this year and is signed through 2019 with a scheduled cap number of $12.4 million. Woods, who received a $3 million roster bonus to go with his $5 million salary, is signed through the 2021 season with cap numbers of $5 million, $6 million and $8 million.
Stars appear to be aligning for the long-awaited Donald contract and we’ll see how much longer it takes to flesh out the final details.
