Quote
“I’ve been told by multiple people in the NFL if this was just about Aaron Donald being the highest-paid defensive player in the history of the NFL, the deal would have already gotten done. Why? Because the Rams look like they are ready to do that. It’s probably going to be $20 million plus that they end up paying him. But, what I have been told is that doesn’t appear to be all he’s looking for. He wants to not only be the highest-paid defensive player of all-time, but it looks like in talking with some people, he wants to get paid like a quarterback. A high-level quarterback.”
There are a lot of mistakes there.
1. No one knows what the Rams are offering. That's people speculating. Notice the "probably": "It’s probably going to be $20 million plus...." IE they don't know and it's naive to act like they do know.
2. People routinely don't get what "qb money" is. QB money in 2018 is 28 M. It's not 24 M--it was 24 M in 2016. On top of it, the way contracts work, the term "a high level qb" makes no sense because that's not how the contract market works. 2nd contracts go up steadily each year and not everyone getting paid is a "high level qb." Wilson got 22 M in 2015. Cousins got 28 M in 2018. Is Cousins a "high level qb" while Wilson isn't? In terms of 3rd and 4th contracts, those are all over the map. Brady got 21 M after being the highest paid qb in the league. Ryan got 30 M. Those kinds of 3rd and 4th contracts are all over the map. So the standard for someone up for a 2nd contract is 2nd contracts. In short, that whole passage is very confused. What that sounds like to me is that someone who was speculating with VB just did not get what "qb money" is.
3. DZ is right. Demoff did NOT say Donald would be the highest paid defensive player. He said he would be AMONG the highest paid defenders. Put that way, if he literally means it, they could lowball AD with just less that what Von Miller got and he still would be among the highest paid defenders...but that's not AD's real market value and range, since contracts go up and Von Miller was 3 contract years ago.
Notice one thing though. VB does not get into the "opt out clause" thing, which some people swore was real because one writer speculated about it and others just repeated him (and then with posters it erroneously got called "a widely reported thing" when even just a brief glance told you it was no such thing.)
If VB had a real source with real figures reporting facts he would have said so. What he does have is some people speculating, and he very carefully makes sure he does not report it as "fact."
If you're basing your pro-management, anti-player "suspicions" on that statement, it's on the thinnest possible ice, plus it means you're ignoring what Demoff directly said.
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Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 07/01/2018 10:34AM by zn.
