[Elvis]

seems a bit presumptuous, "fair" to whom? imo he should have written that the "rams believe they've made more than one very fair offer to aaron donald"...

I'm reading it as Allbright thinks the numbers shared with him are very fair, his opinion.

Now Alden Gonzalez writing something similar:

http://www.espn.com/espn/now?nowId=21-0 ... 29347917-4

I don't know the specifics of what has been offered, but in being around the Rams for months, it has been pretty clear to me that the team understands that if you're going to give Aaron Donald an extension, you basically need to make him the game's highest paid defensive player (JJ Watt became that when he signed his extension with the Texans in 2014). If the Rams' offer indeed makes that happen, and it's still not good enough, for someone with two years left on his rookie contract, that's tough.

Alden Gonzalez, ESPN Staff Writer

[BobCarl]

Allbright has been a fairly reliable source on the Rams for a long time, been around the Rams beat for a while. He's in Denver and word is he knows some of the Kroenke's but who really knows?

numbers for a writer are easy slight-of-hand-tricks ... high or low is only determined by where each individual sets the bar.

each fan decides for themselves what is a fair number ... Allbright decides for himself too, but he also decides for us fans too, which I resent ... If I think $130 for six years is generous. Allbright might think $60 for $6 years is generous, the Rams might be offering $75 and Donald might expect $240 ... At least three out of four of us is wrong.

Has Allbright gone on record (with a real number) as saying what HE thinks is fair? Until we have that number, his tweet is a worthless gauge.

[aeneas1]

I'm reading it as Allbright thinks the numbers shared with him are very fair, his opinion.

then he should have said so imo, of course if he had it would imply that he read and understood the terms of the contract, and was also privy to donald's objections, no?

[BobCarl]

pretty clear to me that the team understands that if you're going to give Aaron Donald an extension, you basically need to make him the game's highest paid defensive player

this is a good starting place ... now from a member of the press ... we need some type of confirmation that Snead has offered "the largest defensive contract ever" and Donald turned it down.

The team owes it to the fans to tell us how much they have on the table (and front loaded or back loaded).... and how much more Donald is expecting.

I get the feeling that this showdown is actually between Donald's agent and Demoff's daddy.

[BuiltRamTough]

Shefter said the offer is record breaking numbers. That obviously means highest paid defensive player ever.

Still not enough I guess.

[aeneas1]

Shefter said the offer is record breaking numbers. That obviously means highest paid defensive player ever.

Still not enough I guess.

thing is, i don't think that was ever in doubt, that the rams were going to underpay him, i think the sticking point has always been amount guaranteed, and when the mula gets paid...

[Neil039]

honestly, the donald holdout has struck me as a curiosity more than anything else, just something to keep an eye as the regular season approaches, i guess it's because from where i'm sitting the rams have a much bigger fish to fry, something that requires far more attention, and that's finally putting a decent offense on the field, putting goff in the best sitch to succeed, and if he doesn't look the part, putting all of their attention into figuring what to do about it.

As of game time tonight he is an after thought for me personally. I agree the Rams have bigger issues now, scoring points first and foremost. I have never been a fan if holdouts especially going into the season by any players. Pace used to fire me up every year his contract issues came up.

[dieterbrock]

Why would they trade his ass to Cleveland? The Rams control Donald for 4 more years. Let him sit.

I think Donald is getting bad advice. Really bad advice. After all, if he comes in and plays, and the Rams start winning, he can claim some of the credit. If they start winning without him, what's he going to say? And if they still lose without him, well they lost a lot with him the first 3 years, so what's the difference?

After all, what was the Rams' defense from the '60s called? The Fearsome Merlin Olsen? It wasn't about one DT, however good Merlin was. It was about team.

Trade his ass to Cleveland was in response to Beckham. The Giants were clear that they wouldn't tolerate a hold out. And Beckham didn't call their bluff to see if they would have traded his ass to Cleveland.
Fwiw his contract is 2 years not 4. There is no guarantee they franchise him

[/zn/]

Shefter said the offer is record breaking numbers. That obviously means highest paid defensive player ever.

Still not enough I guess.

We don't; know the numbers. All Shefter is saying is that it's more than Suh, which was 19 M 2 years ago. To give an idea how contracts go up, 2 years ago Wilson got 21 M, and recently Stafford got 27 m. Contracts go up.

If it was a 19.5 M offer to AD, strictly speaking, that qualifies as "record breaking." Doesn't mean it's a fair deal 2 years after Suh.

So 2 things. First, we don;'t know the amounts BUT it is valid for the 2 sides to wrangle over how much more than Suh is fair in 2017.

Second, there are reports that the hangup is not the amount, it's the structure. So Shefter could just be wrong about the hang-up being the amount.

There is just not enough real evidence to draw any real conclusions.

...

[Elvis]

There is just not enough real evidence to draw any real conclusions.

...

True.

But it does seem like we're starting to get some self-serving leaks from the Rams side which could mean the Rams are losing confidence in getting this thing done...