Aaron Donald reports to Rams headquarters

Good boy

Woohoo!

Update: Rams will seek a roster exemption and will pay Aaron Donald this week. He's back on the active roster as a 54th player.

— Rich Hammond (@Rich_Hammond) September 9, 2017

link: http://www.ocregister.com/2017/09/09/rams-star-aaron-donald-ends-holdout-returns-to-team-without-new-contract/

Rams star Aaron Donald ends holdout, returns to team without new contract

By Rich Hammond | rhammond@scng.com | Orange County Register
PUBLISHED: September 9, 2017 at 11:57 am | UPDATED: September 9, 2017 at 12:03 pm

The Rams’ nightmare scenario ended Saturday morning when star defensive lineman Aaron Donald ended his contract holdout and reported to the team, albeit without a new contract.

Donald remains under contract through the 2018 season, but is seeking a new deal. That led Donald to stay home when his teammates reported to training camp in late July, and Donald held out for six weeks.

Donald will not play in Sunday’s season opener against Indianapolis at the Coliseum, but he did pass his physical Saturday, so presumably Donald will be on the field when the Rams resume practice next week.

Rams coach Sean McVay addressed the Donald situation after the team’s practice Friday at Cal Lutheran.

“We’re still trying to come to find a way to come to a solution,” he said, “but it’s safe to say that he won’t be a part of this game.”

Why end the holdout now, without a new contract? If Donald didn’t report this weekend, he would not have been paid his first-week salary of more than $100,000, plus an unspecified amount of bonus money.

The Rams added Donald to their active roster Saturday and will pay him in full this week. The Rams also received a short-term exemption from the NFL that allowed them to add Donald as a 54th player, and prevented them from having to cut a player in order to get to the NFL active-roster maximum of 53.

• This reply was modified 7 years, 3 months ago by zn.

Vincent Bonsignore‏ @DailyNewsVinny
1. Re: Donald In talking to #NFL people over last few weeks, teams rarely if ever cave when player has time left on his contract

2. #Rams position has been consistent: Willing to pay AD reflective of his stature. But there was a limit how far they’d go to meet demands

3. Question now is, what’s AD’s mood right now relative to contract status? Is this a prelude to #Rams resolving situation long range?

Agamemnon wrote:

Well, good. I am not upset with Donald or the Rams. I am glad the drama is over. Hopefully they can reach an agreement, sooner better than later.

yeah i don’t see much reason to get upset about this.

shoot in a way it could be a good thing and donald doesn’t suffer through the abuse of a 16 game schedule. i think playoffs were a long shot anyway.

Rams have received a roster exemption for Aaron Donald, which means they didn't have to make a roster move when he reported.

— ProFootballTalk (@ProFootballTalk) September 9, 2017

Aaron Donald is back with the Rams, but what does it all mean?

Alden Gonzalez

http://www.espn.com/blog/nflnation/post/_/id/247628/aaron-donald-is-back-with-the-rams-but-what-does-it-all-mean

LOS ANGELES — At last, Aaron Donald is back. The Los Angeles Rams’ star defensive tackle ended his holdout Saturday and passed his physical. He will not play in Sunday’s regular-season opener, and he still doesn’t have the contract extension he seeks. But he’s here, and that is a very important first step. I’ll try to answer some of the key questions regarding his situation.

What is his roster situation?

The Rams sought a roster exemption for Donald, which is typical under these circumstances. It allows them to place Donald on the active roster — and thus ensure he gets paid for that game — without having to cut another player to get back down to 53. They’ll make that decision after Sunday’s game, and my guess is that it will be a center who gets cut. The Rams have four right now. Donald was previously on the reserve/did not report list.

What about his fines and compensation?

Donald was fined $40,000 for each day he did not report during training camp and the preseason, adding up to somewhere in the neighborhood of $1.4 million. But as ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported, the Rams waived those fines. Pro Football Talk also reported that Donald will not lose any of his signing-bonus money. If his holdout would’ve lingered beyond Sunday’s 4:05 p.m. ET kickoff, Donald would not have been paid one of his 17 game checks (players are paid during their bye weeks). Donald’s base salary this year is $1,802,250, so he would have lost out on a little more than $106,000.

So what was the point of all this?

It’s easy to say there was no point, because Donald showed up without a new deal and now he will not play in all 16 regular-season games. But look at it this way: Donald put pressure on the Rams to give him a lucrative contract extension, did not end up losing any money doing so and — this is the big one — avoided any injury risk leading up to the season. Fellow Rams defensive lineman Dominique Easley tore his ACL on a non-contact drill during training camp. Giants receiver Odell Beckham Jr., taken one spot ahead of Donald in 2014, narrowly escaped a serious injury during a preseason game, and he, too, seeks a bigger contract.

When will he play?

Tough to say right now. There’s little doubt on the Rams’ side that Donald stayed in shape while working out in Pittsburgh, but strapping on the pads and repeatedly taking hits along the interior is completely different. They’ll know more during practice this coming week, and they won’t rush him. If they’re confident he’s ready to play Week 2 against Washington, great. If they have to wait until Week 3 (the following Thursday in San Francisco) or Week 4 (Oct. 1 in Dallas), they’ll be fine with that, too. The Rams — and, clearly, Donald — are looking long-term here.

Does this mean they’re close to a deal?

Not necessarily. Donald showing up doesn’t mean there has been a major breakthrough in negotiations. There really hasn’t been. The 26-year-old wanted to be back around his teammates, and of course, he didn’t want to miss a paycheck. The Rams’ front office traveled to Atlanta the day before the final preseason game to meet with Donald’s representatives at CAA, but they didn’t really make much progress. They just want to keep the conversations going. I presume they will continue.

What’s the holdup?

It has been pretty clear to me that the Rams understand if you’re going to give Donald an extension, you basically need to make him the game’s highest-paid defensive player. J.J. Watt is the best comparison in this situation, because he was considered the game’s best defensive player when he signed his extension (with the Texans in 2014) and because he had completed only three NFL seasons by then. Watt’s deal ultimately made him the game’s highest-paid defensive player. There’s no reason Donald wouldn’t believe he’s worthy of that, too, particularly when you consider that the top earner at his position, Dolphins defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh, is very nearly the game’s highest-paid defensive player.

With that being the case, I would have to think it comes down to either ensuring that Donald is the highest-paid defensive player for a while — which might mean blowing past the Von Miller deal, which includes $70 million guaranteed — or giving him as much of his guaranteed money as possible up front. That could be a little tough. The Rams have only about $4.5 million in salary-cap space, according to ESPN’s Roster Management System. They can restructure player contracts to open up more room, usually by turning base salaries into signing bonuses that are prorated over the length of a contract. But the Rams don’t like doing that. They like minimizing what they prorate in order to maximize their salary-cap flexibility.

The best bet would probably be to give Donald a big chunk of his guaranteed money as a roster bonus that would be paid next spring. But what if Donald suffers a devastating injury before then? Maybe that’s a concern on his side. Keep in mind: These are assumptions; I am not privy to what has been offered and what has been asked.

How does the defense look with and without him?

With Donald out, the Rams will start rookie Tanzel Smart at the 3-technique spot, alongside nose tackle Michael Brockers and defensive end Ethan Westbrooks. Smart is a sixth-round pick out of Tulane. Veteran offensive lineman Rodger Saffold, who blocks Smart every day in practice, said he has “outrageous potential.” But he is also raw and a bit undersized. The Rams are fully healthy now. And when Donald returns, they should look very good on defense, especially in their front seven, with Robert Quinn, Alec Ogletree, Mark Barron and Connor Barwin making up a strong linebacking corps. ESPN’s Football Power Index ranks the Rams defense 14th heading into the year, but Wade Phillips can do better than that.

Agamemnon wrote:

Conversely, Giants receiver Odell Beckham Jr. showed up for training camp — and nearly suffered a season-ending injury during a preseason game. Ditto for Raiders pass rusher Khalil Mack, who emerged from August with a knee injury that caused him to miss a practice in the week preceding the season-opening game.

yup. and why i would never begrudge donald for not showing up to camp. i don’t understand all the animosity being directed towards him.

hopefully the rams and donald can come up with an agreement and he can be a ram for a long time. but donald doesn’t owe anybody anything.

JackPMiller wrote:

I wonder who they will release though in two weeks to make room for Donald?

I will guess Fox, cause they might be able to get him on the Practice Squad.

wv wrote:

Well, its a step in the right direction. I wont smile until he actually signs.

Quinn hasnt played a down. AD wont be playing for a while and he wont be in game-shape for a month. Can this Defense put pressure on the QB ?

We’ll see.

w
v

All that’s valid. I kind of fantasize the opposite direction though. I assume Donald comes back eventually and contributes full strength. If Quinn comes through, there;s that. Barwin was good all summer so that;’s 3. Now what if Smart comes through too? He could sub for AD in the meanwhile, and then rotate with AD when AD is ready to start, plus play in passing down packages where they use a 4-man line along with a nickel back (that would mean a 2 DT set with Donald and Smart flanked by Quinn). That would add up to a pretty relentless front 7.

All that combined could take the Rams record for offsides and roughing penalties TO A WHOLE NEW LEVEL! (!!!)

.

Rookie coach Sean McVay helped end Aaron Donald’s holdout

http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/20657283/rams-coach-sean-mcvay-helped-end-aaron-donald-holdout

One of the men who had a role in ending the stalemate between the Los Angeles Rams and Aaron Donald was rookie head coach Sean McVay, sources tell ESPN’s Adam Schefter.

Rather than traveling with the team to Green Bay for the Rams’ final preseason game, McVay went to Atlanta with Rams executives to meet with Donald’s representatives to see if they could find a compromise, sources tell Schefter.

McVay later flew from Atlanta to Green Bay to rejoin his team in time for that night’s preseason game, but he missed the team activities earlier that day.

McVay’s presence in Atlanta rather than being in Green Bay with his team was a sign of how important it was to him to have Donald back on the roster.

The Atlanta meeting helped increase dialogue between the two sides, and it helped result in Donald reporting to work Saturday, though he will not play Sunday against the Indianapolis Colts.