The beauty is there's no one recipe for success in the NFL. The underrated part of Denver was Wade took a 5th round castoff and another 6th round pick and morphed/schemed them into some of the best middle linebacker play in the league. So you had Trevathan and B.Marshall leading the team in tackles, stuffing the run, etc. which allowed the elite pass rushers go nuts -- with cap hits of $1.5m and $585,000, respectively (or combined less than Tru makes in one game.) Then when it was time for Trevathan to cash in on his performance, the Broncos let him walk. But by then they had the SB trophy because they hit on the right salary cap ingredients for that one year that mattered.
Teams are gonna be imperfect and do things that look on the surface like crazy overpaying to one guy or losing an "irreplaceable" guy, but the key is how things like timing, personnel planning, and yes even a nice bit of luck play into the bigger overall cap picture. That said, put me down in the "no trade" column and I think the Rams should give AD the highest contract in the NFL. In two years after the cap keeps going up and other players sign bigger deals, it will not seem as crazy.
Except that in 2 years we will also have guys like Gurley & Goff to add to the bottom line as well as any number of other young vets looking for their first big payday.
If Donald had already propelled the Rams to a Super Bowl win, or even a good play-off run, i'd be inclined to pay to keep him on, but teams that have done nothing paying huge sums to say they have a top two or three player at his position on the payroll seems detrimental to overall team growth. Orlando Pace made sense at the time because he had 2 Super Bowl appearances at the age which Donald is today. And Pace's efficiency declined following his big pay-off.
My first choice on this matter is to do nothing for 3 years, let Donald play out his two remaining years on his contract and then franchise tag him for 2019. If Donald continues to play as expected, as an elite player, trade him in 2020 as a 2'nd year tagged player, receiving two first round picks as compensation. Instead of being on the hook for a Suh like $114 mil. + contract, your cost is closer to $28.mil for 3 years. Even if Donald chooses to hold out for the first 8 games of 2017 & 2018, he's a complete bargain, and you know you will have a healthy player available should you be engaged in a late season play-off run. If you still feel you must have him after 3 more years, negotiate then.
My 2'nd choice, should Donald hold out for the entire season, which would be ridiculous on his part, is to get serious about listening to trade offers. If he were franchised, his value would be in the two 1'st round draft pick range, but Donald today should only start at such a premium and go up from there. jmo.
