Nick Wagoner of ESPN.com breaks down the situation involving the Rams and CB Cortland Finnegan following the season.
The Rams signed Finnegan to a five-year, $50 million deal that included $27 million guaranteed back in 2012, but his play on the field has yet to live up to such a significant contract.
In his first year with the Rams, Finnegan was rated as the No. 86 cornerback in the league out of 113 qualifying players, according to Pro Football Focus, and things have only gotten worse this season. Through 12 weeks, Finnegan rates as the worst qualifying cornerback in the NFL by a decent margin.
According to Wagoner, St. Louis could save $7 million if they were to release Finnegan before his roster bonus is due.
Finnegan, 29, will carry a $10 million cap number in 2014 and has base salaries of at least $6 million in each of the next three seasons. It’s worth noting that the Rams have $122 million in active salary on the books for next season, according to Overthecap.com, which ranks as the sixth most of any team. With this in mind, it would make plenty of sense for them to shed some salary this offseason and given Finnegan’s play and cap figure, he figures to be at the top of the list.
Should Finnegan become available, he would likely find interest, but at a much reduced price. NFL teams tend to be very cautious when it comes to spending money on veteran players that were just cut loose.
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