The Los Angeles Rams might have been holding out hope (pun intended) that All Pro defensive tackle Aaron Donald would play Week 1. But that always seemed to be a long shot.
Donald held out of Rams camp throughout the entire off-season program as a way to leverage himself into a new contract. He then continued that holdout into training camp and the preseason.
Now, it looks like Donald will not be on the field Week 1 at Los Angeles Coliseum against the Indianapolis Colts this upcoming Sunday.
No surprise to anyone, but with no recent progress, Rams holdout DT Aaron Donald expected to miss Sunday's regular-season opener ve Colts.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) September 7, 2017
In no way should this come as a surprise. If Donald was willing to take his holdout into the latter stages of the summer, there was no reason to believe he would magically show up to the Rams’ facility in the immediate lead-up to Week 1.
Donald, 26, has earned a trip to the Pro Bowl in each of his first three seasons in the NFL and is a two-time First-Team All-Pro. This past season saw him record 47 tackles and eight sacks en route to being one of the most disruptive interior defensive linemen in the game.
Despite this, he’s set to make just $3.2 million for the Rams in 2017. Needless to say, Donald deserves a huge raise. And he’s making sure the Rams know he’s hellbent on getting one.