Aaron Donald's agent Todd France has history that could mean trouble for the Rams

[Selassie I]

If Donald wants to sit this year, ultimately he's only hurting himself, because then he WILL lose a year of eligibility and the Rams will still have all the leverage. It's fine that he wants to get the most for his client, but he is starting to push things into an area where it's more in his interests than in Donald's. Still, Donald needs to remember he's in charge and is ultimately responsible for what France is doing and how he's negotiating. Donald's retention of France can only be interpreted as approval.

France shouldn't get too big for his britches. The Rams had similar problems with Orlando Pace, whose agents were a couple of flaming a--holes, Carl and Kevin Poston. They used to play hardball too and be quite unreasonable, and led Pace to a long holdout in his rookie year followed by two consecutive franchise tags. Pace finally wised up, fired the a--holes, and lo and behold was signed to a long term deal not long thereafter. The Postons meanwhile, continued to burn their bridges, even earning a suspension from the NFL for a couple of years. They are still active now, but they don't seem to get any of the big clients anymore, and teams don't like to deal with them. Their current status was truly earned by their flaming a--holery, and if France wants to hold clients out when the team has most of the leverage and ask for unreasonable things like a 3 year opt-out clause (if true) coupled with lots of guaranteed money, then he will eventually earn the same fate as the Postons.

Thanks for this...

I'm gonna use the word assholery as soon as I get the chance. Nice.

 

[kurtfaulk]

If Donald wants to sit this year, ultimately he's only hurting himself, because then he WILL lose a year of eligibility and the Rams will still have all the leverage. It's fine that he wants to get the most for his client, but he is starting to push things into an area where it's more in his interests than in Donald's. Still, Donald needs to remember he's in charge and is ultimately responsible for what France is doing and how he's negotiating. Donald's retention of France can only be interpreted as approval.

France shouldn't get too big for his britches. The Rams had similar problems with Orlando Pace, whose agents were a couple of flaming a--holes, Carl and Kevin Poston. They used to play hardball too and be quite unreasonable, and led Pace to a long holdout in his rookie year followed by two consecutive franchise tags. Pace finally wised up, fired the a--holes, and lo and behold was signed to a long term deal not long thereafter. The Postons meanwhile, continued to burn their bridges, even earning a suspension from the NFL for a couple of years. They are still active now, but they don't seem to get any of the big clients anymore, and teams don't like to deal with them. Their current status was truly earned by their flaming a--holery, and if France wants to hold clients out when the team has most of the leverage and ask for unreasonable things like a 3 year opt-out clause (if true) coupled with lots of guaranteed money, then he will eventually earn the same fate as the Postons.

Those dickheads screwed a Broncos player sideways one time. The Broncos gave him a good offer but the postons wouldn't agree to it. This went on for awhile. Anyway he got injured and then never received more then a fifth of what the Broncos originally offered him. His surname might have been gold. Not sure.

.

 

[Florida_Ram]

A good post @jakebogen95 and (Agent France) knows his future cli·en·tele will grow faster than his ego if he goes 2-0 with Bosa and Donald.

I don't care how many differences there was with Bosa compared to Donald's situation.

France made his mark last year by having Bosa holding as long as he did and setting the rookie holdout record since the new CBA was signed.

As each day passes, it seems Donald might not crack and hold fast to what ever France tells him.

Anyone that believes Donald is siting out the entire season is being naive. There is no way "Trader Les Snead" will keep AD past the 4th game of the season if both sides do indeed stand firm.

Les will trade AD when his value is the most ripe and that would be this year, not after a full season of him holding out and being another year older.

There is only Plan A or Plan B with this standoff.

Plan A = Donald and the Rams agree to terms.
Plan B = Snead trades him to the highest bidder.

Trader Les has probably talked to a few GM's under the radar and before preseason ends, there will be leaks that GM's are calling the Rams about Donald's availability.

I'm looking forward to hearing the rumors of what the Rams might be being offered, or what the consensus value of Donald is via Trade. It would at least make the holdout more exciting than it's been going so far.


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[Ken]

A good post @jakebogen95 and (Agent France) knows his future cli·en·tele will grow faster than his ego if he goes 2-0 with Bosa and Donald.

I don't care how many differences there was with Bosa compared to Donald's situation, France made his mark last year by having Bosa holding as long as he did and setting the rookie holdout record since the new CBA was signed.

As each day passes, it seems Donald might not crack and hold fast to what ever France tells him.

Anyone that believes Donald is siting out the entire season is being naive. There is no way "Trader Les Snead" will keep AD past the 4th game of the season if both sides do indeed stand firm.

Les will trade AD when is value is the most ripe and that would be this year, not after a full season of him holding out and being another year older.

There is only Plan A or Plan B with this standoff.

Plan A = Donald and the Rams agree to terms.
Plan B = Snead trades him to the highest bidder.

Trader Les has probably talked to a few GM's under the radar and before preseason ends, there will be leaks that GM's are calling the Rams about Donald's availability.

I'm looking forward to hearing the rumors of what the Rams might be being offered, or what the consensus value of Donald is via a Trade. It would at least make the holdout more exciting than it's been going so far.


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Trading him won't end a holdout unless the new team signs him to a contract the Rams are unwilling to. IMO the Rams will get a bad rep by not signing their best player when they are overpaying others. Stupid! LAChamp is the only reasonable poster in this thread so far. I'm glad none of you are the Rams GM.

 

[OldSchool]

A good post @jakebogen95 and (Agent France) knows his future cli·en·tele will grow faster than his ego if he goes 2-0 with Bosa and Donald.

I don't care how many differences there was with Bosa compared to Donald's situation.

France made his mark last year by having Bosa holding as long as he did and setting the rookie holdout record since the new CBA was signed.

As each day passes, it seems Donald might not crack and hold fast to what ever France tells him.

Anyone that believes Donald is siting out the entire season is being naive. There is no way "Trader Les Snead" will keep AD past the 4th game of the season if both sides do indeed stand firm.

Les will trade AD when his value is the most ripe and that would be this year, not after a full season of him holding out and being another year older.

There is only Plan A or Plan B with this standoff.

Plan A = Donald and the Rams agree to terms.
Plan B = Snead trades him to the highest bidder.

Trader Les has probably talked to a few GM's under the radar and before preseason ends, there will be leaks that GM's are calling the Rams about Donald's availability.

I'm looking forward to hearing the rumors of what the Rams might be being offered, or what the consensus value of Donald is via Trade. It would at least make the holdout more exciting than it's been going so far.


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That plan B won't ever happen. He's a Ram for at least the next 5 years.

 

[Florida_Ram]

Trading him won't end a holdout unless the new team signs him to a contract the Rams are unwilling to. IMO the Rams will get a bad rep by not signing their best player when they are overpaying others. Stupid! LAChamp is the only reasonable poster in this thread so far. I'm glad none of you are the Rams GM.

Your opinion is yours to cherish....

Obviously a team that agrees to trade for him will know what his asking price is and if they think Donald is worth the money, they will make an offer to the Rams.

If Snead and the Rams think it's a worthy offer, a trade will be done.

Nobody in this thread is the GM and neither or you. By the way if Snead does end up trading him we can revisit this conversation at that time and you can take your anger out in that thread.

I'm on the fence about trading Donald but if you made me choose between a huge blockbuster trade vs him being the highest paid defensive player in the NFL,

I would take.......

without flinching!

 

[JackDRams]

Trading him won't end a holdout unless the new team signs him to a contract the Rams are unwilling to. IMO the Rams will get a bad rep by not signing their best player when they are overpaying others. Stupid! LAChamp is the only reasonable poster in this thread so far. I'm glad none of you are the Rams GM.

And I'm glad you're not the GM. You'd give Donald 30 million a year. And you'd have the best player in the league. But you'd also have the worst team in the league, because you'd have no cap room to sign anyone else worthwhile.

The Rams are offering him elite QB money. He wants an out clause in year 3. If he wants to leave, ship his ass now for a kings ransom. If he wants to play, give him 7 years at the 20M per that is reportedly offered.

The Rams are doing the right thing not giving him that out. They would look like complete idiots in doing so. He's ours for cheaper, for the next four years. So let's pay him more, so he can leave early?? Fuckin genius.

 

[tomas]

ust 17, 2017 at 1:18 pm | UPDATED: August 17, 2017 at 5:43 pm

IRVINE – When will Aaron Donald show up? Or, more to the point, will he show up?

Donald’s contract holdout seemed to take a turn toward contentiousness Thursday morning when ESPN reported, through unnamed sources, that Donald might not join the Rams for the start of the season.

Those sources, almost certainly, did not come from UC Irvine, where the Rams wrapped up their 18-day training camp Thursday. The Rams have declined, publicly and privately, to divulge details of their negotiations with Donald’s agent, Todd France, who previously didn’t respond to interview requests.

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It seems clear that, with Donald’s holdout approaching the three-week mark, and the Sept. 10 season opener on the horizon, someone is attempting to turn up the heat on the Rams.
Will it work?

“Whether that report is true or not,” Coach Sean McVay said Thursday, “we’re continuing to try to find a solution, and we’ve got some time until that does come. We’ve got to always have contingency plans in place, but like I said, that doesn’t change our approach. We’re still trying to find that solution and get Aaron here and be a part of what we’re doing. And if not, we need to be ready to adjust.”

The Rams play a preseason game Saturday at Oakland. After that, the practice schedule gets tighter. Most of the defense already has been installed, and not only has Donald missed all of training camp, but he also missed most of the team’s voluntary offseason program.

Even though Donald unquestionably is one of NFL’s most talented players, getting him up to speed on the new system of defensive coordinator Wade Phillips before Sept. 10 could be an issue.

That assumes, of course, that Donald’s holdout doesn’t continue into mid-September. Fellow defensive lineman Michael Brockers said he remains confident Donald will show up before then.

“Oh yeah. Oh yeah,” Brockers said. “I have a good feeling he will come back. It’s just about the (contract) numbers and stuff that I don’t want to get into. But I know he will be back sometime soon.”

It’s a complicated, perhaps unprecedented situation. Donald, 26, is a dominant defender who has made the Pro Bowl in each of his first three seasons. But under the NFL’s rookie-contract structure, Donald is set to make approximately $1.8 million this season. The Rams recently picked up his contract option for 2018, when he would make almost $6.9 million.

Donald seems to be thinking bigger, perhaps north of the six-year, $114-million deal Ndamukong Suh signed with Miami in 2015, one that included $60 million in guaranteed money.

http://www.ocregister.com/2017/08/1...hreat-of-aaron-donald-regular-season-holdout/

 

[1maGoh]

Trading him won't end a holdout unless the new team signs him to a contract the Rams are unwilling to. IMO the Rams will get a bad rep by not signing their best player when they are overpaying others. Stupid! LAChamp is the only reasonable poster in this thread so far. I'm glad none of you are the Rams GM.

The Rams don't need the trade to end the holdout. They only need the trade to give them a boatload of pics and/or a decent player. The other team would be stupid to trade if they weren't certain they could end the holdout, but whether or not it does isn't the Rams' problem.

 

[FaulkSF]

AD's got to be licking his chops to play Indy without a starting center.

 

[pipedream]

Because of his talent...being one of the best...and his age, 26. I see no reason his skills will not be highly sought after if he sits out one year...with less wear and tear. I think he'd rather play a season at $6.8 million in 2018....and one year closer to FA....than play 2 years for $8.6 mil....I get his window is closing...which is why I believe he wants to renegotiate now...like right now...and have an out when he's 30. No matter what...another team will pay for Donald's services...at a price much higher than $8.6 million a season.

This is a bad look for the organization...new coach....kinda like a new breath of fresh air from McVay....Optimism high as hell...and then this....same old _____ assed rams crap....best player holding out...hopefully we jump out and can win without him...and then he'll be traded...for a lower round draft pick.

No matter what...AD still gets paid....and the organization looks....looks like the Rams....2017 version.

The Rams do not have to deal. They ultimately have the leverage. They could keep him on the hook for 4 more years. They know he is worth more than he is getting paid and are willing to pay him big, but if the Rams are willing to give up the last 2 cheap years of his contract, AD should be willing to give up a few dollars as well. He shouldn't be looking for bigger than Su, however its spelled. He is not a free agent and shouldn't expect the same kind of money. Also don't forget, setting a precedent of ripping up a contract after it's 3rd year can get even more expensive down the line. So, if the Rams decide he is unreasonable, they can say forget it. He is under contract and will then probably start getting fined. Plus he will eventually have to come in or not accrue his year of service.

 

[wolfdogg]

If this goes into the regular season, I'll lose some respect for AD that won't come back no matter how good he plays when he finally joins the team.

 

[HE WITH HORNS]

We can always trade him for two 1sts, two 2nds, and two 3rd round picks. That's where the bidding starts. . . .

 

[Varg6]

^ I'd still rather have him but I'd be listening if teams were pitching in that ballpark!

 

[Old Rock]

Could one of the unnamed sources be Todd France possibly? This is so much like politics I almost hit the inappropriate button. Just wish there was an election date. :sadwalk:

 

[JKBOGEN]

You all do realize that is Bosa in the OP, yes? I don't see a popped collar, but I sure as crap see a porn stache....

I know its Bosa lol.

 

[Rambitious1]

If this goes into the regular season, I'll lose some respect for AD that won't come back no matter how good he plays when he finally joins the team.

I've already lost some respect for him.

 

[JKBOGEN]

That's Joey Bosa....LOL!!!

Great read Jake....I'm a lil worried about a year long hold out...IMO....AD still owns all the leverage...

I think if it goes into the season we should trade him.

 

[LARAMSinFeb.]

An "out clause" is (or is part of) the stumbling block? That's disappointing to hear.

Yeah, you can't make it all about personal financial gain. There's value in team accomplishments and achievements (such as winning superbowls) as well; you need to recognize your team needs to be able to pay the players around you too. A ring, for example, can pay dividends in terms of fame and prestige opening doors and financial opportunities way into retirement. I doubt any of that enters France's recommendations to AD.

 

[JoeBo21]

FUCK Todd France.