The following is close to what they have in cap space. I'll bet they saved on Nutten's and McCollum's first year. That could add another $300,000.

All numbers are in millions.

15.35 (how much the Rams were reported to be under the cap)

+0.82 Saved by cutting Lee

16.17 Cap money

-4.04 Lyght’s tender

-0.86 Conwell (very cap friendly)

-1.13 McCollum (an avg. could be less)

-1.02 Nutten (Ditto)

-1.73 Tucker

-0.94 RFA (Allen & McCleon)

-1.89 EFA (Hobgood-C, Frohbeiter, Horne, Watson, Warner & Hyder)

-0.75 Moran (approximately)

-2.50 Rookie signings (picking 31st = better # than picking 6th)

01.31 under the Cap

This should be close depending on Nutten, McCollum, and the rookies.

As for money for Warner...when Lyght's multi-year contract is done the first year should be cap friendly and should free up at least 1 million under this years cap. Also, I still think L. Styles isn't safe, no matter how much the new LB coach likes him. If the Rams pick a bunch of LBs in the draft, my guess Styles will be cut, saving another 1 million.

Thus when all is said and done, they could have well over 3 million to play with for signing Warner and maybe another FA offensive linemen.

Anyway, this is not easy to figure out! That's why I look up to Ziggy---he has this down pat and his success at working the Rams cap plays a large part in winning. Not just this year but years to come.

2. GREEN. This is how I figure Green's cap # if he is traded. Green's cap number this year is 4.1+ million for this year. 1.1 million for his bonus money and 3 million in salary. Since 1.1 million is already counting towards the cap, the first 1.1 million of the 3.3 million bonus they would have to eat cancels outs---it's already counting! So, 2.2 million more is added to the cap [ie. an accelerated hit on the bonus if he is traded] and 3 million is saved in salary----thus a savings of approx. $800,000.

Confused? You should be!

What are the savings in 2001 if they keep him and then trade him in that year?--approx. 1.8 million.

3. OTHER CONSIDERATIONS. As for Carter, reportedly he'll only see an extension. If that is true, that represents no added hit to this years cap. Most contracts are backloaded anyway---the trick is not to overload the back years or you will run into the problems that the 9ers had, ie. always having to cut someone to keep under the cap.

On Bruce. I have this gut feeling that his days as a Ram might be numbered. A lot depends on two factors.

1. Holt's development. If they feel he's a star of the future, they might be less likely to shell out 4-5+ million a year to keep him.

2. Carter's contract. If Kevin gets 8-10 million per year, there's no way they can keep both, even with the extra 5-6 million per year cap space.

As you can see by this year, 5-6 million isn't much when it comes to the NFL Cap.