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Atlantic Ram
First the post was tongue in cheek. Obviously they are not going to do that. But what if Donald does hold out and the defense plays well? Should the team still pay a significant part of the cap to a player when that money might be better spent elsewhere?
From the days of no salary cap and coming off a super bowl and a broken leg, I think the overall situation is a bit different. Youngblood wasn't going to take up a good chunk of the salary cap. But my recollection of his hold out is nonexistent so perhaps there is a lot more to it than I realize.
I was being tongue in cheek too!
I would say that it is fairly obvious that if the defense plays AS well without Donald (which I don't see happening) that they will just be that much better WITH him.
That yes an elite DT who was selected to the pro bowl all 3 of his first 3 years will always make a defense better, or even better, and you pay for that.
In terms of the salary cap, look around. How many teams let elite players go because of the cap? Naw they keep them. And that's because they get the cap. The way teams do the cap, 50-55% of it goes to their top 8-10 contracts. That;'s just the way it works. So no one keeps everyone anyway. And you keep the ones it's smart to keep.
I would say it;'s smart to keep a rare type of player, an elite DT (there are far more top qbs in NFL history for example than elite DTs). Why? Because then you are always set up to have a strong outside rusher/elite DT combo, and that right there on its own is always the cornerstone of a tough defense. It just happens that if you want that combo, it's far easier to find an outside rusher than an elite DT.
And you can handle doing that with the cap. That's no more an issue than any other team has deciding which 8-10 players to keep as their 50-55% of the cap top contract guys.
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