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RamBill
Being highest paid on defense might not be enough for Aaron Donald

[www.espn.com]

Gonzalez says:

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In the salary cap world, 20 months is an eternity.That's the amount of time that has passed since the NFL's highest paid defensive player, Denver Broncos outside linebacker Von Miller, signed on the dotted line. It's enough time for Miller's contract to almost be considered obsolete as a potential comparison for Los Angeles Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald, the man who is eventually expected to surpass Miller with his own extension.

When it comes to Donald, the most relevant question isn't necessarily how his contract should compare to Miller's; it's how many quarterbacks should rank ahead of him.

IMO Gonzalez is approaching this right. It's not hard to see that the way 2nd contracts work in the market, Donald will be getting more than Miller, but less than the most recent highest 2nd contracts for qbs. So that's between 19 M (way too low) and 28 M (it will be a long time before a non-qb gets a deal higher than the most recent qb signings). One difference I have with Gonzalez is that he doesn't put it in terms of 2nd contracts. But IMO you have to do that, because 3rd and 4th contracts are much more variable. They depend a lot more on things like the health of the player and other circumstances. 2nd contracts for starting qbs set the market, because you are paying for what will be assumed to be the player's premium years. After that, on 3rd and 4th contracts, it gets much more case by case depending on the player and his circumstances.

Anyway, this approach pretty much does away with the whole thing about "qb money." The much more realistic view is that a non-qb won't get more than THE MOST RECENT starting qbs who signed 2nd contracts. As was said, this year, that's 28 M.

That's better than the more amorphous idea that a non-qb can't sign for "qb money." You don't want to put it that way because it suggests that a qb contract amount from 3 years ago sets the market for non-qbs. That's just not how it works.(In fact, both Suh and Von Miller have already busted that idea. They signed for more than some qbs were getting at the time. But they DIDN'T sign for more than the most recent qb 2nd contracts).

It's always the most recent qb signings involving 2nd contracts.