[Horny Mcbae]

I respectfully disagree with almost all of that.

What a surprise. Lol.

1. qb money in 2018 is 28 M (ie. for 2nd contracts) and no one suggests he is asking for that. He's probably in line for something more like 23-24 M and that stopped being qb money after 2015. So if he gets 23 M, that will be just a little more than what qbs got on 2nd contracts in 2015. There is no real reason to NOT pay an elite defender what qbs were getting 4 contract years ago. Wait till Goff signs when the average money on starting qb 2nd contracts will be 30-something M. I think the whole "paid like a qb" stuff when reporters use it is more smoke than light.

OK. Are you presenting this insight as some sort of hidden knowledge? We all know this. Players have to be paid according to their position. Just because a running back is the best running back in history would you pay him the same money as the best QB in history? Von Miller is the current standard. When Donald signs he will be the standard. So any valuation of Aaron Donald has to based in reality and on Von Miller's contract. Not on Matt Ryan's.

Hypothetically, If Donald is asking for 10M on top of what Von Miller is paid i would say go eff yourself. This isn't the Get Donald Paid At All Cost Rams.......... its the LA Rams and they have to build a contending team every year as well. A deal has to make sense for both sides.

2. How do you know the issue is him needing so much or the Rams not coming through giving him fair market value? Truth is, until we get more real info, no one really knows if the issue is the Rams, Donald, both, or if in fact there's no problem and they're getting there.

How do you know it's not? So if i say it is (which i didn't) and you say it isn't, both statements are as valid or invalid as the other.

Logically: we have been trying to sign him for 2 summers now and haven't been able to, yet. He hasn't been accepting the offers. Which means either our offers are low - oh wait we just backed up the brinks truck for two other players who aren't even as good as AD - OR that his agent and Donald are valuing themselves way higher than any other player in his position historically speaking. Regardless he is the one who hasn't accepted any offer so i'd say chances are he wants A LOT. Which makes me think his ask is north of 25M. I could be wrong.

At this point everything is speculation. We don't know the real numbers and can only for an opinion based on speculation. We won't stop discussing something just because we only have rumors to go on. I didn't start the rumor. So when I or anyone else (you) discusses it.......... its all speculation.

3. The tag amount is a lowball compared to his market worth. (The tag would be around 15 M and discussions of his worth I've seen range from 21 to 24 M). Given that , if he gets tagged to me it's likely he sits out and asks to be traded. As I understand it, if the Rams have a tag on him, even if he doesn't sign it, it counts against the cap. Star players who demand to be traded tend to get traded. It's either that or the Rams have no Donald, he counts against the cap, and they're getting nothing for him unless they trade him.

Makes sense.

4. He may be the highest paid defender when he signs but that won't last long. There's going to be a day in the near future when Donald will be eclipsed a few times over.

Of course. The next guy is always going to get paid more than the last guy. Is stating the obvious your thing? It doesn't mean we should pay him an ungodly amount now and have ourselves hamstrung trying to build a team every year of that contract. Which was kinda the main point of the post.

Anyway what am I comfortable with? 23-24 M with 80 M guaranteed. If it;s a bit more I have no complaints.

Fair enough. I think that's a tad high.

[Horny Mcbae]

Not throwing this out there as a "gotcha!". If this offer and the reply from the agent is true, are you okay with just a little villain talk?

North of 25M..... lol. I didn't even read this post when i made my "guess" that they were asking for north of 25M.

Donald is the best player on the team. We have to decide whether we can pay him that amount and still have ourselves a contender during the period of Donald's contract and prime, otherwise what is the point?

I don't know the minor details of our cap situation going forward. All i know is we want to extend Peters and Goff probably next season and unless the salary cap is about to jump by 20M we have to be very very careful. If you don't treat cap dollars as sacred then you will find yourself in the worse than hell purgatory which is mediocrity.

[St. Loser Fan]

Saw this.

[AvengerRam]

I had a chance to talk with Aaron Donald about his contract situation. Here is a transcript of our discussion:

AD: “I’ve been offered $21 million per year. Do you feel I’ve been offered fair market value?”

Av: “Fair market value? Well, now let me see. You know, I don’t have any idea what that means.”

AD: “Well, it means that they’re giving me the maximum amount that I could receive in the open market…”

Av: “I know what your agent thinks it means, sonny. To me it’s just a made up term. An agent’s term, so young fellas like yourself can make more money than you’ll ever be able to reasonably spend. What do you really want to know? Do I think it’s a fair salary?”

AD: “Well, do you?”

Av: “Well, if I was in your shoes and I missed any games due to a holdout, I believe I’d one day look back and feel regret. Not because of the game checks I’d forfeit, or because the fans might be mad. I think I’d look back on the way I was then, a young, stupid kid who couldn’t understand how temporary a football career is. I’d want to talk to him. I’d want to try to talk some sense to him, tell him the way things are. But at that point, I’d realize that I can’t. That kid would be long gone, and an old man would be all that was left. I’d have to live with that. ‘Fair market value’? Its just a bullshit term. So you go on and sit at home, sonny, and stop wasting my time. Because, to tell you the truth, I don’t give a shit.”


I hope I got through to him.

[max]

Here’s the dilemma for Donald. Sitting out the entire year with no guarantee that he’s won’t have to sit out next year as well is not a good business decision.

And playing this year for $6.8M, risking injury, and leaving a $21M/yr deal on the table is problematic at the very least.

Does it hurt the Rams not to have Donald? Of course. But the Rams will survive. Donald plays a much more injury risky position than QB. If he gets hurt like Geno Atkins did or Robert Quinn did, Donald gets hurt much more than the Rams.

I think the smart move for both sides is for the Rams to bump their offer up another 1.5M and Donald to sign it.

[snackdaddy]

Someone on NFL site mentioned the Aug 7 date. That is the date I thought would force Donald to report. But that guy says it means nothing because the Rams are likely to franchise tag him anyway next year. If that is the case, then he has no reason to report. The guy says there is speculation that he won't play another down until he gets a new deal. The one he wants.

The other option if he doesn't report is to make him a restricted free agent. I suppose we could match the offer or get draft picks. This is getting to be annoying. A season long holdout by the best defensive player in the league is going to hurt our chances at a Superbowl run.

Personally I'd go the restricted free agent route. If they can match it, then fine. If they get draft picks they can continue to build and maintain a quality team. This league is about offense. I don't feel any defensive player is worth that kind of money.

[Elvis]

[BuiltRamTough]

[Elvis]

I still think the financial forces at play are gonna lead to a deal sooner rather than later.

If the Rams really are offering more than $20 mil a year with a huge guarantee, that's a lot of money to be gambling with...

[Elvis]