The Aaron Donald/Los Angeles Rams contract situation has gone from interesting to outright punchline when you consider all the other players getting paid. Wide receiver Brandin Cooks got an extension followed by running back Todd Gurley and then right tackle Rob Havenstein got some money. All the while the joke is how ticked off Donald, who held out of training camp, wasn’t getting a dime.
Well, that sounds like it’s going to change. Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio reports that a source says the Rams and Donald are on the verge what will be a “record-setting” deal. The possible range is below:
Whenever the plane lands, the expectation is that the contract will be in the neighborhood of $22 million per year, with as much as $80 million guaranteed (total guarantee, not fully guaranteed) at signing.
That’s close to Jimmy Garoppolo money. It makes sense, though, since Donald is one of the, if not the best defensive players in the league. He is going to get some sizable cash, and the Rams will need to navigate the salary cap to pay quarterback Jared Goff at some point. Given all the extensions, the Rams will probably get creative with this deal, not unlike the Seattle Seahawks did during their extensions in 2013-2016.
The main thing to take from this is that Donald will seemingly not be traded. I know some of us hoped the Rams would do something dumb and outright release him, but that’s nonsense and you know it. There’s no way the Rams would let a player of Donald’s pedigree go to a division rival, much less the 49ers who have a head coach rivalry with the Rams.
If this is true, Donald is finally going to be happy and reporting to Rams camp. I know we all wanted chaos, but accept the fact that we all knew this would happen eventually.
Hopefully he fleeces them for as much money as possible so they can get to salary cap hell quicker than usual.