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dzrams
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Rampage2K-
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dzrams
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spagsbacker
and most everyone else suspects, and has been reported, which is that the Rams are and have put competitive offers on the table and are not in fact lowballing him. But as you say, nobody really knows except those in the room.
go rams
I guess it depends on how you define the word lowball.
My definition is: if someone is clearly the best, and you offer something substantially less that doesn't reflect that, it's a lowball.
By my definition, your stated desire that they do NOT make him the highest paid defender in the league is almost a lowball by definition. There's a difference between what someone is worth and what a team is willing to pay.
By being the best defense player, AD is objectively worth the highest, or at the very least a top 2, salary for defenders. A "competitive" offer doesn't mean it's not a lowball.
The other thing to keep in mind is that everything that has been reported has come from the Rams. This is evident because it puts them in the best light. Given that, I take all of the reports with a grain of salt. That's generally a good idea when you're only hearing from one side.
I just think it's suspicious that the terms "competitive" and "among the highest paid" are being used to describe the offers, especially given those descriptions are coming directly or indirectly from the Rams. It leads me to believe that the offers on the table aren't all that great.
Sounds more like the people with knowledge of the negotiations are leaking info, all of which points to the Rams making significant offer..... if it weren't true, you'd be hearing denials by AD's camp...but you are not. Which leads most people to assume the stories are true.
If the Rams wanted to they could easily call Adam Schefter and give him every detail of the offer, but they haven't done that.
This is a business and the Rams would be stupid not to use the leverage they have to try and keep AD at a reasonable cost.... No NFL team goes around paying every player what they or the fans think they are "worth" with three years of leverage in their back pocket.
It sounds as if the Rams have already tried to take care of AD going all the way back to last year, but his agent insist on playing hard ball....I don't think his agent realizes he is playing hard ball with a whiffle ball bat.
I'm sure they've made a significant offer but why would the best defensive player in the league settle for that? I understand if he doesn't want to settle for merely a "significant" offer rather than one that definitely makes him the highest paid defensive player.
People with knowledge are leaking the negotiations - the Rams people. How do we know this? You always can know by looking at who the leaks benefit.
When we hear that there's a competitive offer on the table, that only serves to make the Rams look reasonable and AD look bad since he hasn't signed it yet. That leak has no benefit whatsoever to AD's side. There is a 100% chance it didn't come from his side.
And no, I don't think it's a sound assumption that you'd hear denials from AD's camp. They don't need to talk, they're already playing their move with him holding out. When we start hearing reports that cast doubt on the strength of the offer or its structure, then we'll know we're hearing from his side.
And I understand that not every NFL team pays a player what they think they're worth. That's why I said there can be a difference between what a player is worth and what a team is willing to pay them. That appears to possibly be the case here.
AD is objectively a top 2 defensive player. I don't know if anyone argues with that. Thus, it follows that he's objectively worth being paid as such. That doesn't mean that the Rams are willing to do that.
The term you used of "significant offer", the terms we've heard described of "competitive" and "among the highest", none of those terms are unequivocal statements that they're willing to make him the highest paid. If leaks are happening, and none of them are saying that, a reasonable assumption is that they're not willing to do that or at least they are not offering that right now.
As for his agent, I'm betting that he's better at math than most of us and probably realizes that he could force a trade if he wanted to after this season. That's AD's hardball.
