An additional comment to your third point :"For the umpteenth time, the more any single player is paid, the less remains for other players in this cap era. Therefore, controlling salaries as best they can is a prudent Ram strategy overall."

'Controlling salaries' is not the same thing as searching for ways to underpay a player.

If, hypothetically, the Rams are offering $21M a year and Donald is asking for $25M a year it would seem to me that the Rams were looking to control salaries without underpaying Donald. And I'm not saying this is what is happening: I'm just saying that when one reads 'controlling salaries' one should not assume that underpaying Donald is what is implied.

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AlbaNY_Ram