[HarRam]

Perhaps I just missed it, but I have yet to read exactly what it is Donald is demanding in dollar terms and what the Rams are willing to pay. All I see is "they're still far apart" or "pay him," but nothing as far as "pay him what he wants, which is ___" so we can see if the Rams can actually meet his demands.

All very frustrating. How can anyone tell who's being unreasonable if numbers aren't mentioned? Okay, The Rams should pay him more. But how much more and do they have it to pay?

Without that I have to default to the Rams being in the right. He's under contract and cannot say the team hasn't fulfilled their side of the bargain. If he's that kind of person, I don't know that the Rams wouldn't be better off in the long run in trading him. He's not being productive sitting at home, not playing.

[/zn/]

Perhaps I just missed it, but I have yet to read exactly what it is Donald is demanding in dollar terms and what the Rams are willing to pay. All I see is "they're still far apart" or "pay him," but nothing as far as "pay him what he wants, which is ___" so we can see if the Rams can actually meet his demands.

All very frustrating. How can anyone tell who's being unreasonable if numbers aren't mentioned? Okay, The Rams should pay him more. But how much more and do they have it to pay?

Without that I have to default to the Rams being in the right. He's under contract and cannot say the team hasn't fulfilled their side of the bargain. If he's that kind of person, I don't know that the Rams wouldn't be better off in the long run in trading him. He's not being productive sitting at home, not playing.

No one has reported amounts. And it's not "Donald's demands." Both the team and the player have agreed to an extension. That means it's player/team negotiations, not "player demands." We do know from some reporting that the amount alone is not the only issue. It's also how the deal will be structured (how much guaranteed, how many years, etc.) We also know that he will get more than Suh (as well he should---Suh's deal is 2 years old). They are wrangling over how much more than Suh. That's just normal contract stuff.

He;s the kind of person who does not want to get injured and therefore throw away a top 2nd contract and be stuck with his bottom of the barrel slotted rookie contract. So I would want him on my team because I would know at least he;s not stupid.

This is the business side of it. And as is often the case with the business side, when the player says it's a business, there's always someone saying no it's a game. But then the ones saying that aren't in the player's position. Also people forget that contracts don't hold when teams want to change them---like when the Rams asked Wells to re-structure his deal and take less. There was no one saying "but a contract is a contract!" when that happened.

The Rams agree he is (to directly quote Demoff) "a special player who deserves a special contract." They also openly said they would respect his decision to hold out if it came to that. I take that to mean they aren't going to make an issue of the hold out itself. No posturing, no public lectures, no accusations, no tough talk, no retribution, nothing like that. They get a deal done, he reports, it's all forgotten, he plays, the season goes on.

....

[HarRam]

I bet it wasn't the Rams who went to Donald and asked him if he wanted to negotiate an extension and raise. It was initiated by Donald and his agent. If he wasn't so keen on it, he wouldn't be sitting out.

I understand the business end of it. If you don't perform, you get cut. Yet, if you out perform, you don't get a new contract. But that's the contract he signed and the way it works under the current NFL/NFLPA deal as to rookie contracts.

The Rams would be fools not to try to work something out with such a talented player, but I gotta ask, just how much cap space do they have and is what is being contemplated too much to ask or agree to. Just think, "What would Tom Brady or Aaron Rodgers be asking?" Would they be demanding so much as to hobble their team's ability to sign a good supporting cast? Is Donald in it to win it? Or is he in just for himself?

[dieterbrock]

I understand the business end of it. If you don't perform, you get cut. Yet, if you out perform, you don't get a new contract. But that's the contract he signed and the way it works under the current NFL/NFLPA deal as to rookie contracts.

Except that's not how it works. They specifically put the 3 year clause in the rookie contracts for players to renegotiate the contract/sign extensions.

[Vincit Veritas]

It's been asked what the Patriots would do in this situation. All we know is what they did under somewhat similar circumstances.

In 2010, Pro Bowl guard Logan Mankins, a buddy of Tom Brady’s, was a restricted free agent. The team tendered an offer at the maximum, $3.26 million, and Mankins said he’d never sign it. In June, with Mankins a no-show, the team, as permitted, cut the tender to $1.54 million. Mankins held out all during training camp and the preseason. Belichik said nothing, nothing at all.

The season began, and Mankins stayed out. Belichik said nothing. After seven games, during which the Patriots went 6-1, Mankins returned, still without a new contract. He started all nine remaining games, the team went 14-2, and Mankins again made the Pro Bowl.

There was more dickering in 2011, but that August he signed a six-year deal that made him the highest-paid guard in the NFL. In the first regular-season game, he tore an ACL, but kept playing. In the playoffs, he tore an MCL in his other knee, but kept playing. He played in the Super Bowl with tears in both knees.

After surgery, he continued to play well. In 2014, Mankins was traded. Brady was said to be very unhappy.

During the Patriots’ unmatched skein of 14 divisional championships in recent years, only one player has remained with the team the entire time. Scores of others have come and gone like leaves on a tree. Loyalty or sentiment, it seems, have played no role whatsoever.

Who have been the Patriots’ defensive tackles during their long winning streak? The player second to Brady in longevity was defensive tackle Vince Wilfork. During 11 seasons he was a stalwart, a fan favorite, and five times All-Pro. The others have made up a continually rotating cast. The team had won two Super Bowls in three years before Wilfork arrived, and won another in the two years following his departure.

I don’t know what the lesson is, if any. It has been said that Forest Lawn is full of indispensable men.

[BuiltRamTough]

[rams74]

:?:

Yeah, but really, what do you expect the Colts to say? If it hadn't already been publicly announced that Andrew Luck isn't playing, the Rams would be saying that they're preparing for Luck. I doubt that the Colts have inside information about Donald's contract situation. Today is Wednesday. They play on Sunday. The math doesn't work.

[azramsfan93]

Yeah, but really, what do you expect the Colts to say? If it hadn't already been publicly announced that Andrew Luck isn't playing, the Rams would be saying that they're preparing for Luck. I doubt that the Colts have inside information about Donald's contract situation. Today is Wednesday. They play on Sunday. The math doesn't work.

Donald is not even in LA. He is not playing.

[HopHead Ram]

Yeah, You prepare as if he is going to be there because if you do and he is not there, you are fine. If you don't and he is there, you're screwed.

[dieterbrock]

:?:

Yeah well Pagano is preparing Luck for it so I guess its no harm