Re: Ok, I'm probably reading this wrong. Somebody correct me.

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Saguaro
Correct me on the numbers, I mean! Not correct my thinking, lol. We've had enough of that.

I looked up Aaron Donald's current contract at this link [www.spotrac.com]

In 2017 his base salary was $1,802,250.

This year his base salary is $6,892,000.

So here's what's making me scratch my head -

In particular, regarding the idea that Donald may just sit out this year if he doesn't get the contract he wants.

He was already in negotiation with the Rams last year. They made him an offer then, which he could have signed.

We don't know but let's just assume for the sake of doing this that it was 20M per year, not the 21M that he's being offered this year.

If he had signed that contract LAST YEAR, he would have been paid $18M more than he actually ended up getting in 2017.

And he would have gotten another $13M more in 2018 than he is set to get right now.

That's a total of $31 MILLION dollars left on the table. And if he sits this year, then it's $18M from 2017 plus the full $20M from 2018 that he won't get because he's sitting. So that's a total of $38M GONE!

Gone, because he can't get those years of his life back and he can't get those years of his career back.

How, HOW is he ever going to sign another contract that recoups the 38M that are gone if he sits?

He can't. He just can't!

If he signed a 4 year contract he'd have to get the $25M he wants plus another (38 divided by 4) 9.5M PER YEAR to arrive at the same place!

Someone would have to give him $34M a year for 4 years in 2019 to get him finally back to the money he has already lost and will continue to lose if he wants to sit in 2018.

That isn't going to happen. So I don't get it. How has any of this helped Aaron Donald?

What has any of this accomplished other than giving his agent a "tough guy that you better not screw around with" reputation?

This whole thing is a giant "lose" for AD as far as I can see.

And of course it's a loss for the Rams, too, if they end up parting ways with a great defensive player, and don't have his services.

Maybe it'll end up being a loss for the agent, too. If players look at what happened and say "I don't want to end up in that situation. I don't want that agent."

That would be a lose-lose-lose.

Just like us, each in our own walk of life, players want what they are worth. (Oh and the agents will lose nothing in terms of career prestige. They've already won several tough fights in the NFL, and whatever happens to Donald, it will be a good outcome...if not with the Rams, with someone.)

Just the way I see this. There is no way on the face of the planet that 21 M is decent value for either Mack or Donald. I've been through the reasons for that. They are coming up on the prime of their careers, and like every single other player in the league, they want what the numbers say they're worth, or at the very least they don't want to settle for a lot LESS than that.

So while you tend in that entire post to put the issues on Donald, I see it exactly the other way around. So I am just going to speak for the exact opposite point of view (as will others too I think) Way I see this, I don't know why the Rams are balking and why they can't just get it done. (Not saying they won't...I guess my impatience is showing). 21 M is too little for either Mack or Donald, and hoping to coerce Donald with a tag in 2019 is just going to lead to a trade situation. And I don't think any of THAT mess is worth the additional 3 M it takes to sign one of the best Rams players to ever play the game.

On the business side of things, the contract itself is the goal for these guys. As with any competitive guy who is worth it, you can no more ask him to sell himself short than you can ask him to just sit out the last quarter of a close superbowl game.

It isn't short term gain or "he could have had x million if he signed at y time," it's getting what he has earned and what he is worth. Even if it means accepting a short term loss--- because the actual dollars in his pocket are not really the issue. I can no more imagine driven players like Donald selling themselves short on a big "cash in," prime of his career 2nd contract then I can imagine them taking downs off in a big game.

And in the meanwhile, on the other side, for the Rams, there's nothing lost by signing him. They get a leader and a generational player, one the defense gameplans around, and all teams keep just a core of top contract guys. It just has to be the RIGHT core. To me that core is defined by guys who both have elite or at least top talent AND the right character. When it comes to that we couldn't get a better player who fits that bill if we designed him ourselves and manufactured him with a magic 3-D printer.



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Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 07/26/2018 01:10PM by zn.