Rams DE Chris Long said that he would be willing to discuss a pay cut to remain with the team.
“Of course,” Long said, via ESPN.com. “But I’m not a guy that, I mean, the last two years I have been paid more than I’ve performed. That’s just the bottom line. It’s a business. Sometimes teams win and sometimes teams lose with that stuff so you’re certainly not rushing to give the money you earned back. You can’t control certain things with injuries and such but of course I’m open to doing something like that. It’s not about the money at this point for me.”
Long also stressed how much he enjoys playing for the team and his coaches.
“I love my coaches, I love my teammates here,” Long said. “If there’s a way to make it work where I’m needed here and it works out, that would be great.”
Long, 30, is in the final year of his five-year, $60.31 million contract that includes $36.76 million guaranteed. He stands to make a base salary of $9.75 million for the 2016 season.
The problem with Long is that his recent production hasn’t come close to the $14.25 million cap figure he’ll have next season.
According to OverTheCap.com, cutting Long would free up $11,750,000 in cap space while also creating $2,500,000 in dead money.
In 2015, Long appeared in 12 games and recorded 19 tackles, three sacks, and a forced fumble for the Rams.
We’ll have more regarding Long returning to the Rams as the news is available.
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