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dzrams
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I have a hard time believing that if Donald was told the Rams have a deal on the table that makes him the highest paid defensive player in NFL history that he would sit out the season.
That’s where this negotiation needs to start. Not “among” the highest paid defensive players, but we want to make him the highest paid defensive player cause that where he deserves to be.
Demoff could have easily said that, but didn’t. Sounds like Demoff is playing games in the media. And what he’s doing is giving Donald cover for holding out. This may be a new regime but they sure sound similar to the cheap ones of the past.
As pointed out, the Rams spend the full allotment of the salary cap so in that sense they aren't cheap.
However, it's also a fact that they haven't extended a player on a long term deal that required more than $10-$11M per year. And they have had several opportunities to do so.
They've extended TA, Brockers, Barron, Ogletree, Saffold. All were in the $10M range.
They've declined to extend JJ, TruJ, Watkins. All of these players required significantly more than $10M.
It's starting to appear that their business model prioritizes the good, moderately priced players over the hugely expensive, elite players.
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Neither JJ, TruJ, or Watkins are on Donald's level. Donald is truly elite. Those guys are not. There were issues with all of them. They made a mistake by keeping TruJ over JJ, but TruJ isn't near to being elite. JJ is a better player but there is risks associated with him that would make you hesitant to give him elite money. Watkins still has his injury questions and for whatever reasons he didn't play for the Rams like someone worthy of getting elite money.
So Donald will really be the first true test of whether the Rams are willing to pay for truly elite players. We'll see what happens.
