I'd be lying if i said it didn't bother me that Aaron Donald wants a contract extension, especially when they just got a new coaching staff. I cannot respect that. He must show up for training camp; the new coaching staff shouldn't tolerate this kind of money-grabbing behavior.
While I mostly agree, sometimes you have to make exceptions for players who are in their own league or class. It's not Donald's fault he has a new coaching staff, he's proven his worth. Thing is, the NFL operates around a CAP formula, and he is as aware of those constraints as anyone else. Donald is young, so he probably cares more about the money than being on a consistent play-off team right now, where a lot of the older vets may want a ring as they close out a career, and perhaps be more flexible about salary demand. The Rams may also not want to set a precedent which collapses the way teams handle situations like this in the future. While it's up to Donald and his agent whether he wants to take the low road and skip training camp, as it stands, the Rams team don't have the available CAP to unload the Brinks truck at his doorway, even if they wanted to. The Rams are only showing a little better than $3.mil of CAP being available, and we still have a free agency/waiver period ahead. A few months ago I would have just said to dump Tru Johnson and get this thing done with Donald, and following the huge raise given to Austin, the Rams have at least two players who don't deserve to be commanding absolutely top dollar at their respective positions. Next season, TruJo is likely off the books, and Austin may be looking like a CAP casualty if his numbers don't get much better. Donald has already been hit with the 5'th year option for 2018, increasing his CAP to $6.9 mil., up from this years $3.2 mil. The Rams don't have to pay Donald quite this soon, they kind of have him over a barrel for 3 or 4 years once you start considering the option of making him a key 'franchise' player going forward, although i'm sure the Rams would prefer keeping their best player happy by giving him his due. Tru Johnson's combined with the poor Austin contract really affects how we deal with Donald in 2017, although once the season gets under way, and should the Rams find they have more than the traditional $3-4 mil on hand to get thru any emergency hires in case of injuries, the team could conceivably find a way to pass some of it on to Donald. Donald and his agent can rattle the cage all they want, the Rams know they have to make this right sooner than later, it's all pretty clear, but I suspect it will be 2018 before Donald truly enters into the banking business. If he holds out of camp this season, his stock certainly diminishes in my eyes, but I don't believe he'll do that. jmo.
