Donald will be the first true star the current team management decides to sign. The current story is--let JJ walk, let Tru walk, let Sammy walk, sign and trade Ogletree and Quinn. This team needs to pay some players. Brockers signed for three years 33 million.
Football is no different than normal life--they need to pay the players what they are worth or risk losing their loyalty. Donald will be the first. If I am Gurley, I am watching very closely to how they handle Donald and it will affect me.
By no means am I advocating overpaying, but I think signing Donald long term before you have to is a powerful message. If you overperform your deal we will pay you. But we will only renegotiate deals in their last year.
LaMarcus is an x-factor is this situation. I think he is a top 3 free safety in the league and the franchise tag is a fair price for him. Will they Trumaine Johnson him or get him take care of properly? If I am Donald I am watching.
