Los Angeles Rams: How Aaron Donald holdout could impact teammates
The prolonged Aaron Donald holdout for a lucrative new deal could affect Los Angeles Rams teammates
The Los Angeles Rams seemingly hold all the cards in the Aaron Donald holdout situation. Unless you consider the other Rams players. Donald has two years left on his rookie contract that will pay him less than $9 million in base salary. However, he has virtually no leverage, other than to continue his holdout — at a price of $40,000 per missed workout, per ESPN.com.
Another ESPN.com article from writer Dan Graziano adds that Donald could be giving up millions of dollars by trying to renegotiate now:
"And if he waits a year or even two, Donald’s payoff is likely to be light-years beyond any deal he made now."
The Rams don’t have to renegotiate now because he can’t play elsewhere for to more years. The one area in Donald’s favor: his teammates’ support. Defensive lineman Michael Brockers told the Los Angeles Daily News that teammates want the Donald holdout to result in more money for the three-time Pro Bowler.
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"“He has worked so hard and been tremendous for this team,” Brocker said. “It’s hard not to want that for him. So yeah, we’re right with him and we support him. We’re just waiting for him to get back.”"
The Daily News added that linebacker Robert Quinn signed a fan’s sign of Donald that said, “Pay the man.”
The Rams main motivation to get a deal done could be in the fact that they might get a discount if they signed Donald now. Graziano in his ESPN piece stated that any deal that would get done now would likely be one that was kind to the organization.
So a best-case scenario would be a five-year deal in the $80-85 million neighborhood, Graziano added. But if Donald waits until his franchise season in 2019, he could command Ndamukong Suh money or better. The Dolphins defensive tackle signed a six-year, $114 million two years ago. That contract included $60 million in guaranteed money.
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But the team has a secondary motivation to end the Donald holdout. They could show Donald’s teammates that they want to do right by the players with a new deal now.