Report: Rams' Aaron Donald Wants Contract as Top-Paid Defender amid Retirement Rumors
TIM DANIELS FEBRUARY 16, 2022
View: https://bleacherreport.com/articles/10027190-report-rams-aaron-donald-wants-contract-as-top-paid-defender-amid-retirement-rumors
As retirement rumors swirl around Los Angeles Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald, one thing that may reportedly help convince him to return for the team's Super Bowl title defense is a new contract.
ESPN's
Jeremy Fowler reported Wednesday that Donald "might need to become the league's highest-paid defensive player in order to play" next season, as his six-year, $135 million
contract includes just $14.25 million in cash for 2022, which is well below his market value.
Donald was snubbed for Super Bowl MVP on Sunday night. He recorded a pair of key sacks and also put pressure on Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow on the Rams' final defensive play, which secured a fourth-down stop and the championship.
Although wide receiver Cooper Kupp also shone with a pair of touchdown catches, at minimum they should have shared the MVP honors.
Regardless, the 30-year-old defensive lineman has been the NFL's top defender for much of his career since the Rams selected him with the 13th overall pick in the 2014 draft. He's won the NFL Defensive Player of the Year Award three times, most recently in 2020.
He remained a force for L.A. in 2021, tallying 84 total tackles, 12.5 sacks, four forced fumbles and four passes defended while playing in all 17 regular season games. He added 3.5 sacks in the playoffs and earned a terrific 93.6 overall grade from
Pro Football Focus.
In turn, Donald deserves the highest-paying contract among NFL defenders, though that label has a few meanings. Here are the various benchmarks he could target in negotiations, per
Spotrac:
- Total value: $141 million (Chicago Bears' Khalil Mack)
- Average annual value: $28 million (Pittsburgh Steelers' T.J. Watt)
- Guaranteed money: $80 million (Watt)
- 2022 cash: $24.1 million (New Orleans Saints' Marshon Lattimore)
The University of Pittsburgh product sidestepped questions about his future during the Super Bowl postgame press conference. He
told reporters:
"I'm just in the moment right now. I'm enjoying this with my family. I got my kid. I promised my daughter this when she was five years old to play in the confetti. She got to do that today. I'm just in the moment right now. I'm gonna enjoy this with my teammates, with my family and I'm just gonna be in the moment and enjoy this today—a couple days, how about that? So, it's a blessing."
Teams that win the Super Bowl frequently go through some significant roster changes before their title defense, as players who shone during the playoff run cash in via free agency. It likely won't be any different for the Rams, with several impact players set to hit the open market and their financial situation seeing them $10.1 million over the salary cap entering the offseason, per
Spotrac.
Donald's retirement would be the single biggest blow the L.A. roster could receive during the offseason, though. He's simply irreplaceable.
In turn, the Rams front office is going to do everything in its power to convince him to continue his career, and a lucrative new contract will probably be part of those efforts.
