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USA Today Sports Media Group
USA Today Sports Media Group
Sport
Cameron DaSilva

Rams saved $2.54M by waiving Travin Howard, which they used to sign Cooper Kupp

Somewhat out of the blue, the Los Angeles Rams announced on Wednesday that they waived linebacker Travin Howard. It was a shocking move to cut a player who they just tendered as a restricted free agent this offseason, especially considering he was viewed as the No. 3 linebacker on the depth chart.

But the announcement that followed a few hours later made the decision to waive Howard a little more logical. They signed Cooper Kupp to a three-year extension, using the money saved by waiving Howard to get that deal done.

By cutting Howard, the Rams saved $2.54 million, which was the full amount of his tender. So they didn’t take on any dead money by making this move.

It’s reasonable to think that if the Rams can find a way to clear a little bit more cap space, they could bring Howard back – potentially at a lower number than his $2.54 million cap hit. It’s not that he was making a ton of money, but Howard’s cap hit was more than twice Ernest Jones’ ($1.1 million). It was also higher than Bobby Wagner’s cap hit of $2.5 million – though Wagner is still making more money down the road, of course.

So the book shouldn’t be shut on Howard yet, especially if he’s willing to come back at a cheaper price.

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