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RockRam
ZN, I understand that for you, business and contract ethics play no role in this debate. Fine. That's your take.
They do for me. And thank gosh they do for most business people or our civil contract legal system would be chaos.
For some reason folks such as yourself see Pro sports as an exception to the rule of ethical contract law; I don't.
The Rams are NOT responsible for the terms of the CBA. They simply have to abide by them. The Rams did not set the rookie scale; it was negotiated how that system would work some years ago between the Players Union and Goodell. The Players agreed to it.
Your idea that players can play above their contracts is entirely subjective. How do you measure that? How do you determine what contract level play is so that the player is being paid at exactly the right level according to a contract? And what difference does it make? Sure, I get it that when the contract is up the guys who play better and make more impact in the eyes of some teams and GMs will get paid more; that's the marketplace at work and the CBA makes that a possibility.
But Donald is under contract. And the CBA allows the Rams to pay him the contract price, and to Tag him up to 3 times. That is the CBA as well.....which the Players voted on and agreed to.
I know this won't change your mind. But I see your stance as entirely subjective and anti-ethical. If teams tried to subvert the CBA and contract law the way you are supporting for Donald to subvert the CBA and contract law, then the CBA and contract law are pointless and it becomes a free for all.
If in a couple of years the terms of the CBA change, and there's a modified Rookie salary scale (or none at all), and if players are granted fully guaranteed contracts, and players are given the specific right to disavow their contracts, fine. But that's not how it is now, and AD needs to honor that.
I agree 100% with the part of your post about the Rams are certainly operating under the CBA, an agreement that the players and their union agreed to after a negotiation and a vote.
I can't speak to ZN's view on ethics, but I can speak to my view on Donald.
Donald signed a contract under the terms of an agreement that his union, his agent and the team all agreed to. He is actually not honoring his own contract, but the CBA as well.
Now, he wants to renegotiate that contract - I get that. He's not the only one. He has the option of living up to his contract while he negotiates a new contract or an extension. He has chosen to not do that and to hold out and not be part of the team at this time.
Last year he chose to do the same thing. This, in the middle of a coaching change, with a new defensive scheme. This year, there are new players alongside him on the line (Suh and rookies) and behind him (various LBs) that would benefit from playing with him so that they are all on the same page. Every player plays his position differently and it takes time so that that player's teammates can get in sync and become a better team.
He's not a leader. He's set himself apart from the team. The truth is, he's a distraction. Every day McVay and others are asked about Donald, a player who is not even there. McVay and the players can't do anything about it, yet Donald's "situation" remains at the forefront. Kind of like a big turd on the sidelines with flies buzzing around, waiting to be cleaned up so we can focus on the team and getting ready for the season. (The situation not Donald.)
After all of the recent rough years, this team has a chance to be something special, but they all need to be pulling the same way. Donald is not.
A couple of other things:
Everyone views Donald as "deserving" more as he turned out to be much better than what everyone thought he was going to be. The consensus is he should get more money. Why is that a one-way street? Why don't players who underperform not have to give money back? Why is it that it's only the team that has to pay to make things "equitable and fair?"
This isn't Donald's only chance to make money. He can always go get another job or build himself another career. There are plenty of ex-players that have moved into broadcasting or coaching or the front office or taken up another career. He can walk away any time. And likely be healthier for it.
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I can't speak to ZN's ethics, but I can speak to my view on Donald.
