Earlier today, our own Zach Links explained how Rams defensive end Aaron Donald would become a restricted free agent next offseason if he failed to attend training camp by tomorrow. Well, it sounds like that will end up being the case, as ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports (via Twitter) that the Pro Bowler “has no plans to rejoin the team” as he pursues a contract extension. Schefter notes that Donald won’t be at camp on Tuesday, “nor anytime soon.”
Earlier today, Rams coach Sean McVay seemed to echo that sentiment, telling Gary Klein of the Los Angeles Times that he didn’t expect the two sides to agree to a contract extension.
“I don’t think anything’s going to change with that in the near future. I’ve had a little bit of dialogue with Aaron and we’re hopeful that we’ll get something done,” McVay said (via Michael David Smith of ProFootballTalk.com). “I don’t think there’s any realistic deal to kind of that August 7 being a date that changes really anything. But you never know. And things remain the same. I’m looking forward to trying to connect with him later today and we’ll see where we’re at.”
As Zach explained earlier today, Donald’s presumable restricted free agent status shouldn’t be that big of a deal to the player. The Rams will likely franchise the 27-year-old since they’d risk another team signing him to a first-round tender, thus earning the defender a nice payday. However, Donald will start to lose money if he misses Thursday’s preseason opener, as the Rams are allowed to fine him a regular season game check for every exhibition game he misses. Donald could sacrifice up to $3.2MM if he fails to report prior to the regular season.
Previous reports hinted that the defensive lineman is looking to reset the market and become the highest-paid defensive player in the NFL. This means the Rams would have to hand out a contract that beats Von Miller‘s league-leading average annual salary of $19.1MM. At the very least, we know Donald is surely looking for a raise on the $6.89MM he’s slated to make next season.
The 27-year-old has certainly earned the right to be the highest-paid defender in the league, as he’s garnered four straight Pro Bowl nods and three straight first-team All-Pro honors. While he ultimately missed a pair of games last season, the defensive lineman was still plenty productive. Donald finished the campaign with 41 tackles, 11 sacks, and a career-high five forced fumbles.
Trade him! Trade him! Trade him! Trade him! Trade him!
Would need to sign his tag to be able to be traded
There is no tag!
No No No No & No
Why would you trade him? Especially after all the big moves the team has made to win now.
If they can win the superbowl this year I’m sure the sides will both work together in good faith. If they fail in typical LA fashion, he s gone.
He can’t go anywhere. If no deal is done, he will be tagged. So he’ll be a Ram for at least 3 more seasons.
He has the same agency as Roquan Smith of the Bears. It seems they want to use these players for there own personal gain re Joey Bosa. And the guy who is senior partner of agency is the Bills owner so how F up is that
For personal gain? Aaron Donald wants a new contract to make him the highest paid defender in the league which is more than justfiable since he has been one of the best, if not the best, defender the past two to three years. He’s holding out because reporting won’t get him any closer to that. He still has the fifth year option and the Rams will almost assuredly franchise tag him twice. After that second franchise tag they’ll likely let him walk when he’s 30, severely reducing his chances of being paid like he should’ve been.
In Roquan Smith’s case, the disagreement there is that the Bears want the right to take away all of Smith’s guaranteed money if he were to get suspended or fined for an on the field action (such as the new helmet rule). I’m all for including offset language for PED suspensions or other off the field suspensions but it seems pretty ridiculous to take away a guy’s money because he hit a guy with the wrong part of his helmet in a split-second, full speed decision.
The Bears have agreed to the offset language due to suspensions from illegal hits. His agents want the language to include suspensions from off the field behavior, that’s the hang up on Smith. The Bears are 100% correct on this issue. Btw him and Donald have the same agency.
The hang up is the on the field stuff, not the off the field stuff. The helmet rule is the basis for the issue. Matt Nagy even said so himself. In this case, the Bears are not 100% correct on this. If it was a multiple time occurrence (like Burfict), then sure, take away the guarantees. But to say that the first offense (or second offense) could result in a loss of his guaranteed money because he’s out there playing hard for the team is crazy.
Not for nothing, but what could the coaches possibly teach Donald during pre season that is worth $3.2 MM?