The Los Angeles Rams are in the midst of working on an extension for All-Pro defensive tackle Aaron Donald. The team picked up the fifth-year option on his rookie contract, making sure Donald remains on the squad through the 2018 season.
Even then, Donald is among the most underpaid players in the NFL. He’s slated to earn just north of $10 million over the next two seasons. For someone of his ilk (28 sacks in three seasons), it’s readily apparent Donald needs a raise here soon.
If we ask Rams COO Kevin Demoff, he would agree with that assessment in a big way.
“Aaron deserves to be paid among the elite players in our game,” Demoff said, via ESPN. “That’s never been a sticking point for anybody in our organization.”
If that’s the case, why hasn’t Los Angeles been able to lock Donald up on a long-term deal? We’re talking about one of the top-five defensive players in the game. Heck, last season saw Donald absolutely dominate in comparison to other top-level defensive tackles.
Aaron Donald and Calais Campbell were the only two interior defenders to earn a PFF grade of 90.0 or above in 2016 pic.twitter.com/RULwmkXmnx
— PFF (@PFF) June 3, 2017
Donald himself skipped the team’s OTAs this offseason before showing up for minicamp. It was a way for him to tell the team he’s not happy about his current pay.
At this point, Donald’s market in terms of an extension would have to be somewhere between $100-$110 million with $60 million guaranteed. That’s based on the six-year, $114 million deal Ndamukong Suh signed with the Miami Dolphins back in 2015. Though, Donald himself could very well create a new market at this position.
It will surely be interesting to see what comes of this. But the Rams appear willing to throw a ton of cash the defensive tackle’s way. That should lead to a long-term deal here soon. If not, there could be some issues in Hollywood.