this is really quite simple...
You absolutely can. You just have to draft well and have good coaching, Miami didn’t do either.Paid him almost 15% of the teams cap and didn't get much in return. You can't pay players that much coin when they don't have a huge impact on the field. And what I mean by that is, how often does AD touch the ball a season? 2 maybe 3 times? Point is he doesnt have the same impact as say.. a QB, WR, or RB. And that's the disconnect that some fans don't see, simply saying "pay the man" doesn't help this team out long term
There's one hole in your argument. There has never been a player of Aaron Donalds caliber that got paid that way. Like, literally ever. He's a HOF player. And could be even better this year.No matter how much he considers his money to be? What if he wanted 50% of cap space per season? Are the Rams allowed to factor in what they feel is best for the overall team? They're going to spend all their cap space, after all. Just they may have other players they feel are important too.
I've asked this before - in the salary cap era, how many defenders who got 20% of cap space as their salary completed their contracts, instead of being cut when the team decided they were a liability overall. How many of those successful contracts were in the recent past, after the NFL began changing rules to favor the passing game?
It's a lot more complex than "Pay that man his money."
Conversely, how many times does he keep other people from touching the ball?And what I mean by that is, how often does AD touch the ball a season? 2 maybe 3 times?
Conversely, how many times does he keep other people from touching the ball?
Or advancing it?
That’s a valid point. Not sure that equation worked out too well against ATL but it is certainly something that has to be considered.Conversely, how many times does he keep other people from touching the ball?
Or advancing it?
AD and Mack have the same agents right?
Oh I know that. I'm just saying you can't assign value based solely on who touches the ball. I mean how often do guys like Khalil Mack or Calais Campbell or Von Miller touch the ball? You also can't use that 'ball toucher' metric to validate guys like Bradford getting a $70M blind contract, or giving huge sums of money to guys like Brock Osweiller - simply because they play important positions. It's all about fit and core players you can build around.Still doesn't have the same impact as a QB WR or RB. Sorry but it's true. It's why they have designations for each position when it comes to FA.