https://www.ocregister.com/2018/07/...nt-aaron-donald-signed-his-big-rams-contract/
Bonsignor: Why hasn’t Aaron Donald signed his big Rams contract?
Vincent BonsignoreAugust 1, 2018 at 12:03 pm
Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald, winner of the award for AP Defensive Player of the Year, speaks in the press room at the 7th Annual NFL Honors at the Cyrus Northrop Memorial Auditorium on Saturday, Feb. 3, 2018, in Minneapolis. (Jeff Lewis/Invision for NFL/AP Images)
IRVINE — If you’re keeping track of the Rams’ recent contract developments – and based on my Twitter feed that seems a likely bet – a natural reaction would be to scream: “But what about Aaron Donald?!”
Understandable given how Donald and the Rams have been talking for more than a year about a new contract that reflects his status as the best defensive player in the NFL.
Yet, they have exactly nothing to show for it.
That is, aside from an entire 2017 training camp holdout and the potential of another one this year. The Rams open camp Thursday at UC Irvine, but with Donald barreling into the last year of a rookie deal that falls embarrassingly short of paying him fairly, it seems unlikely he’ll step foot anywhere near Orange County until a new deal is secured.
And rightfully so.
No one deserves a new contract more than Donald, whose performance at defensive tackle the past four years has soared so far above his paycheck he’s easily the most underpaid player in the league. And given the money he’d stand to lose should he get hurt before signing an extension, it would be foolish of him to suit up for anything short of an actual game practice until an extension finally comes to fruition.
Nevertheless, less than 48 hours before camp officially starts, Donald and the Rams still haven’t found common ground on a new deal.
It stands to reason, then, how people were scratching their heads upon learning the Rams handed running back Todd Gurley
a lucrative four-year, $60 million extension after already locking up wide receiver Brandin Cooks with
a five-year, $80 million extension just last week.
Fans are probably asking: “Um, what about Aaron Donald?” in a way that suggests the Rams are prioritizing other players at the expense of arguably their best.
Understandable.
But not practical.
In fact, the question is flawed.
It’s no longer: “What about Aaron Donald?”
It’s: “What about it, Aaron Donald?”
The Rams have demonstrated they are willing to pay at the top of a position market – as they did with Gurley to reset the running back market – or competitively by making Cooks among the highest-paid receivers in the game. It stands to reason they’d do the same for Donald, coming off a 2017 season in which he was named the NFL Defensive Player of the Year and racked up 91 quarterback pressures in 14 games.
Given the Cooks and Gurley contracts, you’d be on the safest of grounds to deduce the Rams have offered Donald a deal that makes him the highest-paid defensive player in the history of the NFL and makes him the first non-quarterback to break the $20 million per year threshold.
For argument’s sake, let’s just say it’s $21 million per year. And in terms of guaranteed money, let’s safely presume there’s more than $70 million sitting in the middle of the table just waiting for Donald to claim.
That’s game-changing and generation-changing money that sets Donald up for the rest of his life and earns him the rightful distinction of being the highest-paid defensive player of all time.
That’s game-set-match if you’re Donald and his agents.
Or should be.
That it’s not is remarkably telling. And not in a way that reflects poorly on the Rams. They are ready and willing to do right by their star defensive tackle.
Within reason, of course.
Which brings us to the question: “What about it, Aaron Donald?”
What’s the holdup?
What could you possibly be demanding so above and beyond what the Rams are offering that common ground has been so elusive to find?
Donald and his agent, Todd France, have kept a tight lid on contract talks. As have the Rams. But there is speculation within NFL circles Donald is looking for a landmark deal.
In fact, an NFL general manager told me recently word on the street is Donald and his agent aren’t just seeking a deal that resets the defensive market. They are looking for top quarterback money, which would mean pushing that $21 million to between $25 million and $30 million per year and thrusting that $70 million to the $80 million and beyond range.
If so, that would be a reckless disruption to the Rams’ salary cap given the need to eventually pay Jared Goff, who is well on his way to becoming an elite quarterback.
On top of already paying Gurley and Cooks top dollar and eventually locking up star cornerback Marcus Peters and tackle Rob Havenstein and guard Rodger Saffold.
In a perfect, non-salary cap world, the Rams back up the Brinks Truck and pay Donald whatever he wants. But the world in which they operate consists of an unforgiving salary cap under which 53 players must fit. Ideally with fair contracts reflecting their performance.
The Rams have been ready and willing to pay Donald accordingly and historically. The contracts they gave to Cooks and Gurley back that up.
So what’s the holdup on Donald?
Better yet, “What about it, Aaron Donald?”
