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Gurley just got $15M/yr. Giving Donald $23M/yr is more than 150% of what Gurley just got.
Is doubtful Donald is worth that much more in terms of winning a SB. And certainly not in terms of entertainment value.
I think that’s a big consideration for the Rams.
Well if the Rams agreed with you then they would have been wasting their own time negotiating with him because they knew all along that a Donald contract was going to be in the 20+ M range. If they did not think he was worth that the smarter thing to do would have been to trade him. Instead of trading him they kept talking about how he deserves a special contract.
In terms of the Gurley comparison, you can find other RBs and win superbowls that way. Nothing against signing Gurley but there are other RBs his class in the league who were not even first rounders (like Bell and Johnson).
And bear in mind that the top paid QBs, WRs, DTs, DEs, 3/4 OLBs all get more than Gurley does on his new contract. Gurley's new contract is comparable to top CB money. If you put it in terms of best defenders, that would include Watt (16+ M in 2014) and Von Miller (19 M in 2016) and will soon include Mack at more than 20 M.
And yet in terms of a full contract (as opposed to a tag) Gurley is now the highest paid RB in the league (again leaving Bell's one tag year out of it, the 2nd highest paid RB gets nearly 7 M a year less than Gurley now does.) So even as the highest paid RB in the league, Gurley does not make the same as WRs, DTs, etc. let alone the best defenders in the league.
I think the obvious logic is, you can't replace an elite DT who automatically elevates your pass rush. They just do not come around often enough for that.
The best article on Donald (hands down) points out that the interior rush is of special value in this era because teams have gone to shorter quicker passes to defeat the outside rush. This was based on talking widely to league coaches and personnel people. The article I refer to shows that a strong pass rush impacts scoring by killing drives. Given that the article calculates that Donald is worth 2 wins a year above normal expectations. That article is here:
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www.nfl.com]
And here is a youtube based on that article
Gurley was offensive rookie of the year when drafted and offensive player of the year in 2017. Donald was defensive rookie of the year when drafted and defensive player of the year in 2017. The team is very fortunate to have both. A good team ties up its elite players and builds around them. That's what I count on the Rams doing .
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Edited 5 time(s). Last edit at 07/25/2018 08:36AM by zn.
