Fans often like to say that players have short shelf-lives so they must sign big long term deals to maximize the short time they have to get them before their bodies break down. True.
But it is equally true that this is not the concern of the NFL team. Their concern is to get the biggest bang for the buck and to have the least exposure possible to having to play a diminishing or injured player. So of course two entirely different agendas are at work and it is not an issue of who is more right or more wrong.
If I was GM, only the best of the best, and only at certain positions, would get the mega bucks. The rest I'd pass on and if I couldn't get the right deal, I'd trade the player and get something in return before they hit Free Agency.
Donald is a case in point. If I'm the Rams absolutely no way am I negotiating a contract right now. They Rams have a hold on him for several more years at a bargain price. Naturally for his own protection Donald was lots of guaranteed money, meaning that if he has a career ending injury he still gets paid. The Rams, of course, have 52 other players to worry about and want to pay the least they have to.
If Donald must have a Suh-type deal or won't sign a new deal, then the Rams should let his contract play out, then either franchise him a couple of times or trade him. If he holds out, so be it. The Rams will not live and die with Donald's presence (or lack thereof).
Tru J clearly wants elite CB money. He's not elite and the Rams shouldn't pay him as though he is. Neither was JJ elite.
As of now, I just don't see an elite player that I'd give a break the bank contract to. And that goes for Ogletree as well. He's no superstar. And while Donald is a superstar, still there is a limit as to what he's worth to the team. And DTs are not where I'd put the team money if I was the GM.
