AD's contract may be in the works...

[JackDRams]

No, but I know you don't really believe a DT is more important then a QB. Trust me, I love AD and hope he stays a Ram forever. But in the history of great teams, 99% of them would have been great regardless of their DT. I just don't think it's that important. Denver and Seattle both had one of the best defenses of this generation and neither had an all world, all everything defensive tackle.

My point is, we don't need him to win a Super Bowl. We need Goff to be great.

The discussion wasn't about what's more important. It's about how much money he makes and whether or not he would be handcuffing the team.

 

[OldSchool]

Yes but they won that with Miller before his mega contract. The number of teams that won a superbowl with an elite defender and poor QB can be counted on one hand, and none of those guys made $20 million per year.

Lol how many guys in NFL history made $20 million? News flash the cap is going up and contracts are going up.

 

[FrantikRam]

Lol how many guys in NFL history made $20 million? News flash the cap is going up and contracts are going up.

Sorry didn't think you would take most post so literally, I'll try again;

How many teams have won a super bowl with a defensive lineman taking up 12% of their salary cap? I'll save you the research, the answer is zero.

 

[Legatron4]

The discussion wasn't about what's more important. It's about how much money he makes and whether or not he would be handcuffing the team.

That goes hand and hand though, yes? Is giving the DT position $100 million worth it when it could go towards improving the rest of the team? I say no. The only player who should make anything close to that is the QB. Teams like NE, Pittsburgh, Greenbay, Denver(before Millers contract) are consistently winning games without giving other guys enormous contracts.

Btw, isn't it kind of ironic that Denver gives Miller all that money, they lose their HOF QB and don't even make the playoffs the next year?

 

[Bruce2980]

You dont let transcendent talents like those guys get away.

Unless his name is Eric Dickerson, or Kurt Warner :rant::banghead:

 

[OldSchool]

2013 Baltimore Ravens top two paid players were Suggs and Ngata at 13 and 11.5. Flacco was 4th highest behind Yanda at 6.8 with a 1 million base.
2014 Seahawks missed qualifying because they so vastly overpaid Okung at 11.2 M but that was clearly a defensive heavy payroll led by Avril at 9.8 million.
2016 Broncos were led cap wise by Demaryius Thomas at 15.2 million then the next four were defenders.

Go back to the 2000 Ravens too. Plenty of teams won with defense heavy payrolls. It's pointless to complain about today's contract numbers versus past numbers because the salary cap has changed aLong with the cba changing.

Aaron Donald potentially making more than our teams QB isn't going to make it so we can't win a super bowl. Plenty of teams have paid elite defenders on their roster higher than a WB or others on offense and won. A cap hit that high isn't going to be easy to manage but it's possible to manage. Hopefully there is a one year hit really high so that the end of the contract is more manageable. One things for certain though, AD is going to get paid and we are a better tea with him on the field.

 

[SteezyEndo]

Rams won a SB and the cap was half the size as it is today. Inflation indeed.

 

[Young Ram]

Pay the man. I got a Donald jersey for Christmas. I don't usually get jersey and I can still return it. Hope I don't have to. Donald should be a RAM for the rest of his career. HOF here he comes.

 

[Mackeyser]

That goes hand and hand though, yes? Is giving the DT position $100 million worth it when it could go towards improving the rest of the team? I say no. The only player who should make anything close to that is the QB. Teams like NE, Pittsburgh, Greenbay, Denver(before Millers contract) are consistently winning games without giving other guys enormous contracts.

Btw, isn't it kind of ironic that Denver gives Miller all that money, they lose their HOF QB and don't even make the playoffs the next year?

Denver didn't make the playoffs because they went from a broken down Manning who was frankly playing awful, but still was the smartest QB in football which offset his poor play by quite a bit... to basically rookies and it showed.

it wouldn't have mattered if no defender made over $5M, they weren't going to the playoffs with that QBing.

Now, we are hopefully in the position where we have our franchise QB and finally have someone who can develop him.

Our situation is far different from Denver's in a lot of ways. When both Tampa and Denver fell out while paying guys like Miller and Sapp big money, it was because they didn't have a QB. We do.

Our biggest issue was coaching and by extension, scheme. Hopefully, that's been thoroughly addressed.

Frankly, if Houston had any kind of QBing last year or the year, they'd have been very, very dangerous. And with a healthy JJ Watt coming back and Jadaveon Clowney living up to his potential? That freakin' D is gonna be monstrous.

Which is why Dallas is holding out for a LOT from Houston...because Houston with Romo is going from a playoff team to maybe a SB favorite.

One of the reasons football is so hard to predict is that it takes they synergy of coaching, player execution, scheme and, frankly, a LOT of luck regarding injury and the bounce of the oblong ball to win. That's why the "rules" in football don't tend to hold up as solidly as those in say, baseball.

 

[Loyal]

Speaking historically, the one thing we had before 1999, were Ram's greats to look back upon. My avatar's sake had years of losing until the final years of his career. Old guys that watched the Rams in the 60's,70's, and 80's can talk about our historic players and the 7 year run of NFC West Championships (one SB appearance). Of course we revere GSOT players, but we remember these guys...just as this generation will remember Aaron Donald. I don't have a holy cr@p about the cap, that's Demoff's job...They can work their magic, or whatever....failing to do that, whoever responsible should get beheaded on the 5o yard line

 

[Yamahopper]

going to bet it will be 20m a year deal

I think you hit the magic number of 20m as an average.
20m + 6y = 120m 80m guaranteed.
If it's done after the cap increases next year and a couple Mil. per.
Cost of doing business.

 

[Riverumbbq]

I think you hit the magic number of 20m as an average.
20m + 6y = 120m 80m guaranteed.
If it's done after the cap increases next year and a couple Mil. per.
Cost of doing business.

After this, I want all his uniforms and personal clothing done in kevlar & bubble wrap.

 

[Yamahopper]

After this, I want all his uniforms and personal clothing done in kevlar & bubble wrap.

Just a calculated risk. Sure he could do a "Bridgewater" and be effectively done, but so what draft another one and move on.

 

[LesBaker]

I have to give some credit to Vinny and Alden.

They started out badly but have gotten their shit together and do a good job for the most part.

It's the first year, so maybe they are being given a little more to keep fans involved and happy but we shall see.

 

[LACHAMP46]

I absolutely love AD. Probably my favorite Ram since Marshall Faulk, so I can;t believe I am going to ask this.....but does paying a DT/DE 20+ mil/yr make sense?

I'm not gonna read all the comments...but looking at what AD does for our defense...

Hell yeah....front loaded....but pay this man....

 

[tbux]

I tend to agree with this sentiment. I understand Aaron Donald is an all world player, but he hasn't helped put numbers in the win column. New England won a Super Bowl because of their QB. Not their DT.

Boy that is selling that whole team short. That was a great TEAM effort- and yes Brady was awesome. but I bet even he tells you he cant do it alone- NOBODY can. You have a great all world player, you keep him- period! Ask any QB you ever meet- what is it they hate most- pressure up the middle.

 

[So Ram]

That's because your a Rams fan

 

[FrantikRam]

I wouldn't, but going from AD/Keenum to scrub DT/Cousins only takes you from the Rams level (4-12) to the Redskins level (around 9-7)

Because the reality is - QBs with those "QB salaries" don't typically win super bowls either. It's similar to the NBA though - a guy like Aaron Donald is like an above average NBA starter, impact wise - he will win some games from time to time - and he will disappear from time to time when he goes up against a team with a good gameplan. But an elite QB is like a superstar in the NBA - a guy that is capable of imposing his will on any team at any given time. This is two years old but echoes my thoughts:

http://overthecap.com/super-bowl-titles-high-salary-quarterbacks/

That's from 2015, but Manning and Brady each had pretty low salaries the last two years respectively. And those are QBs - defensive tackles are obviously going to look even worse from this perspective.

Now, I'm not saying we SHOULD trade Donald - but I think it's worth discussing. If we could get a haul for him, we would ultimately be a better team IMO.

 

[Psycho_X]

Now is the perfect time to pay Donald and get that front loaded money out of the way while we have a QB who we hope will be all pro one day but is no where close to it yet and still in their rookie contract. Hopefully, one day Goff will require a $20 mil a year contract but as of right now AD is deserving of one and he will get it. Might as well get it going right now. However, I'd guess Tru's contract is in the way of doing it at the moment. I'm willing to bet if we ever get Tru out the door that a contract for AD will be done this offseason. If Tru sticks around they may have to push it off another year with little choice.