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dzrams

If this is the plan, does it matter what type of free agent he is? Does it even matter IF he is free agent?

In theory, couldn't any player, including a rookie, essentially say I refuse to suit up for you and try to force the team into moving him?

Great questions. But here's where I think something is afoot by agents using Donald to soften up the owners for the next CBA situation. Under the old cap, since rookie salaries weren't capped and tiered, players had leverage because they could create significant dead cap space by sitting out. Under Donald's rookie contract, what's Donald's dead cap number this year? $6 million? Is it a lot of money? Yes. But it's not $10 mil-$15 mil under a much smaller overall cap that players under the old rookie CBA prior to 2011.

And why is that important? Well, pre-2011, teams didn't have a lot of wiggle room to sign a replacement player. Today? The Rams already did that with Suh and they could sign someone else too.

Again, I'm just trying to real tea leaves. I don't know for sure of any conspiracy. But the situation is starting to walk like a duck and if Donald is holding out after Aug. 8th, then it's going to start talking like a duck.