Aaron Donald … April

from Rams DT Aaron Donald absent from start of voluntary workouts

Alden Gonzalez

http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/23205292/aaron-donald-absent-los-angeles-rams-voluntary-workouts

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“What I think we feel good about is the dialogue that has existed,” Rams coach Sean McVay said after his team’s workout. “We totally understand some of the other things that are going on with regards to wanting to get that deal. With respect to Aaron, we feel really good about where we’re at with that dialogue. This is a voluntary offseason program. You know he’s a guy that’s going to work hard on his off time, and that’s kind of where we’re at. We feel good about everything that’s going on with that.”

Donald, who remains in Pittsburgh, is set to make $6.89 million in what constitutes the fifth-year option of his rookie contract. The Rams can then keep him for up to three additional years with the franchise tag, but they have expressed a desire to sign Donald long term dating back to last year’s scouting combine.

At this year’s combine, Rams general manager Les Snead said he and Donald’s CAA-based representatives “came up with a nice timeline” for negotiations, a process that might pick up after the draft. The Rams have since taken up almost all of their cap space by adding cornerback Aqib Talib, interior lineman Ndamukong Suh and wide receiver Brandin Cooks. But Snead recently said that “none of it affects Aaron.”

Signing Donald to a long-term deal might actually give the Rams more space under this year’s salary cap, because the signing bonus is prorated for the life of the contract and would allow them to lower his 2018 base salary.

The Rams and Donald might be at a better place now, which might be evidenced by their exclusive, behind-the-scenes access to Donald’s hometown for their “Behind The Grind” documentary series. Donald likes playing for McVay and is excited about the direction of the team. The Rams, meanwhile, would be more willing to pay Donald now because he’s closer to free agency.

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Locking Donald up may require at least $80 million guaranteed and an average yearly salary of more than $20 million.

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Offseason workouts are voluntary under the Collective Bargaining Agreement. Players can only be fined for skipping the mandatory veteran minicamp, which for the Rams takes place June 12 to 14. Donald showed up to last year’s minicamp, but didn’t participate in any of the team activities. He then skipped all of training camp and the preseason schedule, staying away from the team until the day before the season opener.

Donald now has a much better feel for Wade Phillips’ 3-4 scheme, but his absence keeps the team from figuring out how Donald, Suh and Michael Brockers will work together on the same defensive line.

“I mean, we’ve dealt with it before, and we also know that it’s a business,” Brockers said. “You have the best defensive tackle in the league right now going through contract situations. I’ll kind of just leave it at that. I don’t really want to talk about if he’s here, if he’s not here. We obviously know that he’s putting in the work to get back in shape.”

nittany ram wrote:

Something tells me they don’t get a deal done with Donald this year.

Yeah.

The fact that they haven’t done it.

https://247sports.com/nfl/oakland-raiders/Bolt/Theres-no-doubt-about-Raiders-stance-on-Khalil-Macks-contract-117270787

Raiders’ stance on Khalil Mack’s contract has never wavered
The Raiders front office is seemingly remaining calm on the Khalil Mack contract talks.

Jeff Smith – Apr 14, 2:10 PM

Oakland Raiders star Khalil Mack is not in attendance for the start of offseason workouts as he and the team work out a contract extension. When the star pass rusher’s extension will get done is a looming question that doesn’t have any exact timeline.

Fortunately, there doesn’t seem to be much tension surrounding the topic, at least when evaluating general manager Reggie McKenzie’s most recent comments.

While the two sides work toward an agreement that will likely make Mack the highest-paid defensive player in the NFL (or possibly No. 2, if Aaron Donald strikes a larger deal), McKenzie has remained incredibly positive.

When NFL.com’s Steve Wyche asked McKenzie about the situation, he didn’t shy away from the obvious fact that the organization wants Mack to be a Raider for life while also pointing out that things have remained positive on all sides.

“This is going to be a big contract and all sides are trying to make everything work,” McKenzie told NFL.com on Wednesday. “It’s about the end result. One thing I know is that we love Khalil Mack and we want to make him a Raider for life. We’ll get through all the other stuff. We understand the business part of it. Everybody is aware of everything and nobody is surprised. Everything, on all sides has been positive. I can’t stress that enough.”

This shouldn’t be a surprise at all, as the Raiders have fully known that the big payday would almost certainly be coming this offseason for the 2016 Defensive Player of the Year. These comments also come on the heels of Wyche reporting that Mack is expecting to receive “guarantees in excess of $65 million.”

Taking McKenzie’s comments and pairing them with the reports of Mack’s apparent contract demands seems to connect the dots that the two sides are at least somewhat on the same wavelength. Obviously, this doesn’t mean that Raiders are just going to fork over $65 million or more in guarantees, but the negotiations remaining positive to this point show the franchise’s commitment to their defensive star.

Currently, Mack is set to play 2018 under the fifth-year option from his rookie contract and will cost the Raiders over $13.8 million in cap space if he were to move forward without a new deal, according to Spotrac. A new contract, if set up in a way that benefits the team up front, could still bring that cap number down in 2018, and also potentially give Gruden and the Raiders front office some additional space to work with for the remainder of this offseason.

The Oakland Raiders are wrapping up free agency and now have big decisions to make in the 2018 NFL Draft! Want the latest news sent straight to your inbox? – Sign up for our FREE Raiders newsletter now!

I agree with the theory that says they are waiting for the Raiders to get Mack done.

$6,892,000(Donald’s wage this year) – $775,000(5th year minimum wage) = $6,117,000 X 5years = $30,585,000. The Rams take Donald’s wage this year and convert it to signing bonus. They can do this for 5 years. He gets ~$31 million dollars this year.

Thanks! I get it now