Thus far, the Rams have not:
1. Fined Aaron Donald; or
2. Made any public statements about the negotiations.
At this point, I'd say they are being too soft on Donald and his representatives.
He should definitely be fined. A holdout should be painful. To make it less so only serves to provide incentive for Donald to continue to hold out.
The Rams should also make a public statement about the negotiations. Make it clear (so the Louis Riddick's of the world won't get it wrong) that the Rams HAVE offered to make Donald extremely and at the top of the pay scale for his position. Make it clear that the holdup is Donald's insistence on having his cake (a long-term, top $ deal) and eating it too (having an out clause after 2-3 years). Make it clear that the Rams are not the reason that fans won't be seeing Donald on the field.
At the onset of this situation, I fully agreed with the "soft" approach. Now, its time to play hardball.
After all, once its resolved, and Donald has his guarantee of 10s of millions of dollars, this will all be water under the bridge and Donald can go back to terrorizing opposing backfields.
