ST. LOUIS -- Less than a day before the start of free agency, the St. Louis Rams cleared some room under the salary cap Monday by releasing right guard Harvey Dahl.
Dahl's release had been expected for much of the offseason as the Rams looked for ways to create flexibility entering free agency. Dahl was scheduled to count $4 million against the 2014 salary cap but had no signing bonus or guaranteed money left, so the Rams will realize all of that as savings.
Had they kept him, the Rams would have owed Dahl a $2 million roster bonus on the third day of the league year. Instead, Dahl joins cornerback Cortland Finnegan as players the Rams have cut in advance of free agency.
Barring more moves before the market opens Tuesday, the team will have about $15 million in cap space when the bidding begins.
Dahl signed with the Rams as a free agent in 2011 and had been a mainstay at right guard for most of his time in St. Louis. He started 39 games in that time but injuries slowed him in each of the past two seasons. In 2013, the 32-year-old Dahl played in just nine games.
