The official Aaron Donald holdout thread - #Questfor100

[gabriel18]

Demoff still in Pitt? Everything A-OK
train

I'm heading to a doctor's appointment in Pittsburgh Tuesday. I'll stop and have a talk with AD so just relax guys .

 

[gabriel18]

How does his agent expect to get 20 million a year when the Rams have no cap room ? It just won't work right now if that's the case .

 

[wolfdogg]

I'm heading to a doctor's appointment in Pittsburgh Tuesday. I'll stop and have a talk with AD so just relax guys .

We're past talking. Grab him by the ear and put him on a plane.

 

[gabriel18]

We're past talking. Grab him by the ear and put him on a plane.

I'll need more than a good doctor if I try that . Lol

 

[LesBaker]

I know I wouldn't sign a guy who mails it in whenever things don't go his way.

I think most GM's would take that approach too, even a prolonged holdout will scare some teams away because he could do it again.

Didn't Revis hold out a few times too.

How does his agent expect to get 20 million a year when the Rams have no cap room ? It just won't work right now if that's the case .

I don't think the Rams saw this coming and were assuming they would be doing a deal with him after the season when they have plenty of cap space.

 

[Merlin]

Not if the league was operated by the NFLPA. Currently the players get what 45%? Even after all operating costs, owner profits are a huge chunk of the money taken in. More pie to go around if you cut the owners out.

No matter how you set a league up there's going to be guys who hold out because they don't feel they're making enough, and hey so-and-so is making X million more than I am.

Anyway I think these are two different discussions. Aaron Donald holding out under the current CBA is one discussion. How the evil NFL owners keep too much money is another. I'm not really interested in the second one, was just pointing out that no matter how you set it up dudes are going to hold out. Can't trump human nature.

 

[T-REX]

Rams' Aaron Donald 'back and forth' with coach Sean McVay on return - ESPN
https://apple.news/A8X7f-U9jS0mkxJAhxEDmuA

"I've kind of been chasing him around like I'm chasing a girl in high school," McVay said, laughing, on Saturday, eight days before his team begins its season. "... I've reached out to Aaron, but it's kind of been a back-and-forth. He's a guy that I enjoy talking to. I'll enjoy it a lot more when I see him in person."

Donald's holdout will hit 38 days by the end of this week, which amounts to $1.52 million in fines -- nearly as much as his $1.80 million base salary for 2017.

The crucial day is seemingly Monday, Labor Day, one McVay called "the first day of true preparation for our team and for the Colts." The Rams will then be off on Tuesday. If Donald doesn't report by Monday, it will be hard to envision him playing in the Sept. 10 opener against the Indianapolis Colts.

"I'm an optimistic guy," McVay said when asked if he was hopeful of seeing Donald on Monday. "I'm always going to take the positive approach."

"Aaron's a very special player to us," McVay said. "We want him here, and we want him to be a part of this. With what these players have started to create, I think it would be special to have Aaron be a part of that."

"He wants to be here," McVay said of Donald. "We respect their approach and where they're at, their stance, based on what they want to get accomplished out of these things. But with regards to mine and Aaron's dialogue, it's been exclusively player-coach football related stuff. That's what you want it to be."

"If there's anybody that you feel like can try to mimic and emulate those things when he's working out on his own, Aaron's one of those guys," McVay said. "He's one of our best players. [We] want to have him out there with his teammates. But not at the expense of not having a smart plan in place to where you rush him back, and then it results in not having him back for a couple weeks."

 

[OldSchool]

Too bad AD would rather sit out than play. An UDFA center is starting for the Colts. I guess he doesn't want more game tape of him eating people alive on the field.

 

[JoeBo21]

seriously need to get this shit done today

 

[kurtfaulk]

I don't think the Rams saw this coming and were assuming they would be doing a deal with him after the season when they have plenty of cap space.

How could they not see it coming? C'mon man.

.

 

[LesBaker]

How could they not see it coming? C'mon man.

.

Did anyone see him wanting to redo his deal this early? If they knew maybe they would have restructured some contracts or something.

That's my point.

And who would have thought AD would hold out?

 

[Dan Poplawski]

I say Flux him. Greedy a$$hole.

 

[…..]

How could they not see it coming? C'mon man.

.

He's a bit early man. I think the real question is "How could they have seen this coming"

If Donald doesn't report Monday, then I'd say fuck him and let him sit the whole season, with old his salary, not give him any rebates on his fine. And then move on. We don't his type here.

But surely he will report, won't he?

 

[Mackeyser]

I could be wrong, but it seems to me that the sticking point for AD is the 3 year opt out.

Point is especially for the Rams that they front load. Many teams don't.

So, for teams that don't front load, I can see why a player would want the 3 year opt out because beyond guarantees, the later years amount to balloon payments that they won't see and end up requiring renegotiation for a lower rate.

What I don't understand is that the Rams tend to front load so as to mitigate dead money on the cap. More teams are doing this or finding a middle ground because backloading has burned so many teams in the past.

So, especially with a front loaded contract, it's not like AD isn't going to be paid. He just won't be the highest paid (or near it) in years 4 and after. But his overall contract will still be massive.

This is the one area where I fault AD and his agent.

Neither Detroit nor Miami has won simply because of Suh. The Texans haven't won simply because of JJ Watt. Denver didn't win with Von Miller and no QB (they did go 9-7, but missed the playoffs).

I want AD to get paid. They cannot expect the Rams to keep AD in the top 5 of NFL defensive players (When you think about who could be in that club, there are more than 5 guys) with the youth movement needing to get paid in the coming years.

Presuming progression of play, you'll have Goff needing to get paid and if he's anything, but a bust, he's going to get PAID. We have Sammy Watkins and I'm sure we're going to want to keep him paired with Kupp. Ogletree is going to need to get paid as well.

We have guys who are going to need to be paid out of a limited pool. AD is going to get a record setting deal.

What it seems he wants and the Rams simply cannot give him is a 3 year opt out so that the Rams can set more records on another deal.

AD can get his money. What he can't do is try to get his money twice. I mean, if you do the math with the guarantees and salary and whatnot, after 3 years the price for him would be around $27M per year. There's NO WAY any team can afford a defensive player at that price. Heck, there's no way a team can afford a $27M QB. The Saints have a cap hit for Brees at over $30M and they are struggling under that with no way out.

Again, I want AD to get paid. I really do. AND, there's no way I want the Rams to give in on the opt out.

 

[kurtfaulk]

Did anyone see him wanting to redo his deal this early? If they knew maybe they would have restructured some contracts or something.

That's my point.

And who would have thought AD would hold out?

He's a bit early man. I think the real question is "How could they have seen this coming"

If Donald doesn't report Monday, then I'd say freak him and let him sit the whole season, with old his salary, not give him any rebates on his fine. And then move on. We don't his type here.

But surely he will report, won't he?

He's been playing at all pro level since he entered the league. Of course he would want to be paid as early as possible. And that was after his 3rd season. Obj and Mack seem to be happy to wait another year so their average salary will be even higher, they see how much salaries are increasing every year. AD wants to get paid now. I'm guessing his agent must have relayed that to the rams after last season ended.

.

 

[jrry32]

Yes there have been months to get a deal done, and the Rams made a huge offer. AD held out. It takes two to tango, your a lawyer you know that.

Just because he has elite talent doesn't give him leverage. The Rams can have him for 5 years for probably less than what he wants in guarantees or at least very close and can make a clean break after those years or trade anytime. All Donald can do is hold out, not get paid and lose accrued seasons.

AD has two options, sit out and make nothing or get a deal done. He isn't going to sit out long, the money will run out eventually and he isn't going to miss a full year or two. He'd kill off his value.

No, he won't miss a full year or two, but every game counts for a team that wants to make the playoffs. In law, it's accepted that there's generally going to be a point where what the two sides desire overlaps. That's why very few cases go to trial. Trial is risky. The closer you get to trial, the more it pushes people towards that point where you have overlap. The cases that go to trial are the cases where the sides are so far apart that there isn't overlap. That isn't true 100% of the time, but it's just a general principle.

We're getting to that point with the Rams and Donald. If there's overlap, we'll see him sign soon. If there's not, we won't see a deal done this year, and Donald will return when he decides to return.

 

[Legatron4]

No news today

 

[Loyal]

Next Sunday is game day and that's it for me. Not that he cares what I think (or anyone else at that point), but I think the Rams should clear him out of their minds for the year and roll with what they have. Let him sit and earn no money while watching football with P. Manning on Sundays...If he wants to come back and quit being a horses @ss, let him beg.

 

[OldSchool]

Think I read right now his fines are up to $1.3 million. Gets expensive sitting out.

 

[TSFH Fan]

Looks like anything around a $30M signing bonus (on a 5yr extension) is going to need more cap space (https://overthecap.com/calculator/los-angeles-rams). While 25M fits, Suh got a 25.5M bonus. AD presumably wants more. Back in the day the Rams made cap space by restructuring C. Long in the beginning of September. The Rams could be restructuring one or more players right now.

Edit: term