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Saguaro
But IMO, no matter how exceptional he is compared to other DL's, there's only so much he can do to affect game outcomes from that position.
And he won't be able to make up for the loss of quality at other positions that will occur if he insists on being paid significantly more than ANY other defensive player.
First I doubt they are that far apart right now. So to me the question applies equally. If the Rams want him why not pay him what the market suggests he's worth. That is for every "why shouldn't the player do this thing for the team" question when it comes to negotiations, there exists an equal and opposite question about why the team shouldn't do this for that player. They did it with Gurley. Setting Bell and his tag aside, the nearest back to Gurley on the contract scale is Devonta Freemon at 8.2+ M. Gurley is nearly 7 M more. We know good backs are not that hard to find, and most of them come in at under 8 M...and in spite of the hybrid back type expansion that will soon exist because of TG, where guys like Johnson will be the 15 M range, you will always find good backs who will be 8 M or under.
Unlike Gurley, where we know we can find backs that give them a high percentage of the same production, with Donald, there is no other elite DT.
And I think that being what he is, one Donald is worth two other players. And that's where I really disagree. I think you're better off with a Donald instead of 2 other players worth half each what he is worth.
What some indication of why I would think that? Last year the Rams were 4th in sacks, and that was with edge rushers that included a sub-par (for him) Quinn, and at the end of his career Barwin, a rookie in Ebukam (rookie pass rushers rarely do much), and an effort guy in Longacre who was hurt for maybe half the season anyway (his production drops way off before they finally IR him). You only get 21 sacks from a bunch like that if offenses always have to gameplan Donald, and then you have a D coach who knows how to use that.
Elite DTs are so rare that they're like once a decade types. Edge rushers of at least decent quality are far more common. Of the 35 guys with 8 or more sacks last year, only 3 were DTs. So this means you can start out with the elite DT in Donald and find a quality edge rusher to pair with him (for all we know, Ebukam already is that).
So yes to me a player like that has a disproportionate effect and yes he is worth 2 top players in terms of the cap space he will represent.
And if the Rams don't think so too, then they have been wasting their time all along and should have just traded him long before this. Because they must have started all this knowing that whatever AD ends up with, it will be north of 20 M. Is it really the case that the difference between 21 M and 24 M sunbtracts that one player who would get them to a superbowl? Or the difference between 70 M guaranteed and 80 M guaranteed?
Anyway to me, the way things are right now, given the lack of concrete details, it is both equally possible AND equally untrue to say the problem is on Donald, on the Rams, on both, or in fact there isn't really a problem. In this vacuum, at this point anyway before we learn more, for every statement I see saying "why doesn't the player do X and end this" I think that it is equally possible to say "why doesn't the team do X and end this." For all we know actually both statements might be close to the truth, or for all we know neither is.
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