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A trade for Aaron Donald would cement Cowboys' defense for years[
cowboyswire.usatoday.com]
Pick up the phone, baby.
If it feels like deja vu all over again, it is. We had this same conversation last season, but 2018 feels much more serious. With the first preseason games just over 24 hours away, it does not look as if the Los Angeles Rams and Aaron Donald will be working together this summer. It may even stretch into the regular season again, after Donald’s holdout ran through Week 1 last year.
Los Angeles has handed out a lot of money this year, giving Todd Gurley and Brandin Cooks (who has never played a down for them) lucrative extensions. Meanwhile, the best defensive player in the league for the last several seasons is set to make $6.9 million on the fifth-year option. The highest-paid defender, Denver’s Von Miller, averages over $19 million a season.
There’s an easy solution to all of this: The Rams need to trade Donald to Dallas. He’d be Bob Lilly 2.0.
Dismiss all of the notions about never truly being one player away. Jerry, Stephen, Mr. Will McClay… make it happen, captain.
The Cowboys with Donald would be a defensive masterpiece. While there was plenty of hope David Irving could be the 3-technique of the present and future, his second suspension in as many years, combined with him being out of training camp while in rehab have to cast a cloud over.
Pairing a player who oftentimes deserves to be triple-teamed, with a hopeful cast of interior defenders, could be mammoth. Players like Antwaun Woods and Brian Price are inspiring hope as gap-penetrating nose tackles, and guys like Jihad Ward and Datone Jones are looking like better than replacement-level players.
This doesn’t even take into account Maliek Collins, who’s currently out with a broken foot. All of these players could be long-term rotational pieces next to Donald, and for half a season or more, there’d be the possibility of having both Donald and Irving in on obvious passing downs.
Whew.
Dallas would likely have to give up two first-round picks for Donald, in addition to giving him a ridiculous new contract. It may even cost more. So what? Pay it.
The contract can be worked out, even with the club not signing DeMarcus Lawrence yet. With Donald in tow, the Cowboys would be picking in the final four picks of the first round anyway, and are showing a newfound mastery of the draft. They can still get great draft hauls without first rounders.
The Cowboys will be making some tough calls down the line with their stars. They still have multiple years of control over Dak Prescott and Ezekiel Elliott.
There’s just over $14 million of cap space waiting for the Cowboys in 2018 and over $50 million in space currently slotted for 2019.
Dallas could provide Donald a hefty signing bonus this year of around $25 million, give him a low base salary and still only get hit with around $6 million in 2018 cap hit. That leaves them more than enough to take into the regular season.
Of course, the specifics of what Donald is asking for are unknown, but it’s believed he wants quarterback money. Regardless of Wednesday’s note by Les Snead, Los Angeles’ GM, that the two sides are in the “same zip code,” they’ve been negotiating for 20 months to no avail. He could still be had for the right price.
It’s been pondered whether Donald is looking to recoup the missing 2017 salary after not getting a new deal last season. Whether that demand (if it even exists) would be transferred to an acquiring team is another stone yet turned.
