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Rams Already Failing As Aaron Donald Expected To Miss Opener Vs. Colts
https://www.forbes.com/sites/gabeza...xpected-to-miss-opener-vs-colts/#3334788819fc
Gabe Zaldivar , CONTRIBUTOR
The Los Angeles Rams won all of four games in their return to Hollywood last season. They welcome the Chargers into the city limits and are now vying not only for wins but also the love and affection of a town starved for success on the gridiron.
The same team that made Sunday depression a city-wide tradition when it was here previously will now begin its second season in the reboot era without its best player. Aaron Donald is now reportedly expected to miss the opener against the Indianapolis Colts amid a holdout that has now lasted the majority of the summer.
MANHATTAN BEACH, CA - MARCH 04: Aaron Donald #99 of the Los Angeles Rams attends the Los Angeles Rams Media Availability on March 4, 2016 in Manhattan Beach, California. (Photo by Leon Bennett/Getty Images)
It may take some time to come to grips with the idea of being without one of the best defenders in the league, especially when this is the same team that threw $42-million at the diminutive Tavon Austin just last year.
Adam Schefter, via ESPN, reports the star defensive tackle will more than likely miss the start of the season. I wouldn't suggest, just days before kickoff, to commence holding your breath that a deal might be worked out to sidestep what will assuredly be a major blight on an otherwise festive day.
As recently as Wednesday, Donald was in Pittsburgh. Modern aviation what it is, this is hardly a nail in the coffin to the 26-year-old showing up shortly. However, it illustrates a man perfectly content to ride this ploy out until he gets what he feels he deserves.
What's more staggering in all this are the numbers behind Donald who remains a defensive stalwart. According to Spotrac, he is owed a base salary of $1.8 million this season, with that number jumping to roughly $6.8 million in 2018 in the form of a fifth-year option. All of which make up a major part of the four-year $10.1-million deal he initially signed as a rookie.
Understanding the kind of sport in which he dominates, Donald would like assurances sooner rather than later. In a gladiator sport that can take players off the field due to injury at any time, Donald isn't about to risk millions while playing for relative pittance.
CBS Sports' Will Brinson is one of many who put the plausible Donald demands at about $20 million per year, or, as the more observant will notice, a shade more than the $19 million a year Ndamukong Suh is getting on his $119-million contract with the Dolphins.
Benjamin Allbright went a step further and tweeted that Donald may also want his guaranteed money up front.
View: https://twitter.com/AllbrightNFL/status/905835010367750144
Brinson also mentions that the Rams still have Donald under remarkable value, so it behooves the organization to play this one as if it has the upper hand. This franchise, still trying to woo fans back into a massive stadium, will instead suit up without its brightest star. An organization that would love for this town to flock to sports bars and actually care will instead negotiate with someone who deserves a massive raise.
We now have the football version of chicken as both sides dig in for the long haul. Brinson's report hints at the unthinkable, that Donald could miss a significant portion of the season if not the entire year.
He is already facing a remarkable set of financial circumstances. He continues to suffer a $40,000 hit to the wallet every day he is absent and will also lose money every game he is out, in upwards of $105,000 per contest, via
NBC Sports.
First-year coach Sean McVay stated earlier in the week: "I’m optimistic that we’re going to continue to work to find a solution. That being said, if we’re not able to, the game goes on Sunday at one o’clock, there’s going to be a kickoff and it’s going to be a great opportunity for us to come together as a team and see if we can come away with a W against a great opponent," via
L.A. Daily News.
The Rams face the Colts at home, against Scott Tolzien who takes over for the hampered Andrew Luck at quarterback. It is indeed fortuitous for L.A. who will now start rookie Tanzel Smart in Donald's absence.
L.A. may indeed get over on the Colts, which would bring them a quarter of the way to tying last year's abysmal record. However, with some fans looking at a franchise nickel-and-diming one of the sport's greats, they are already entering the game from behind.
