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Long time coming: Rams and Aaron Donald finalizing a record 6-year, $135 million, including $87 million guaranteed, per source. Richest defensive deal in NFL history.
Donald now tied to LA for next seven years. And he will be ready for Monday night opener vs. Raiders.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) August 31, 2018
Even with the record-breaking deal, Aaron Donald’s salary-cap number for the 2018 season rises from $6.892 million to $8.892 million. Rams get their man without suffocating impact to their salary cap this season.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) August 31, 2018
All in same week:
Aaron Donald became highest-paid defensive player in NFL history.
Aaron Rodgers became highest-paid player in NFL history.
And OBJ became highest-paid WR in NFL history.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) August 31, 2018
AgamemnonDid the starters play at all this preseason? How much did they play?
Has any coach ever played starters less than McVay ?
w
vThe defensive starters played 7 snaps last game. Brown played some for the offense in 3 games. That is about it I think. I think McVay holds the record.
Agamemnon— Downtown Rams (@DowntownRams) August 31, 2018
AgamemnonI guess that Donald is getting a new contract starting in 2018 and not an extension starting in 2019.
I look at it this way, snow. Donald will get so much new money and so many new years. What they do with 2018 I consider a restructure. To me they are just moving money around for the Cap purposes.
AgamemnonIt may not only be for Donald. Marcus Peters is looking for an extension after next season. It may help for that. Not Witworth’s as much, but Woods’s contract could help that.
Woods and Whitworth both created about $3.5M in cap space this year.
AgamemnonJoel Corry@corryjoel
Tom Brady (yes Tom Brady) was the NFL’s highest paid player in 2011 at $18M per year when the salary cap was $120.375M. It’s now Aaron Rodgers at $33.5M with a $177.2M cap. The QB increase (86.1%) is easily outpacing the growth in the salary cap (47.2%) during this span.That is just totally wrong. Rodgers won’t make ~$33.5M until 2020-2023. The est. Cap will be between $200 – $230 million in those years. The Cap will have gone up about 78%, maybe more if it beats the estimates. Some people should not be allowed to do Math. 😉
Agamemnon@JKBogenDTR will be back calling the #Rams #Saints game live tonight! pic.twitter.com/dadnx7InOn
— Downtown Rams (@DowntownRams) August 30, 2018
I guess he means here:
https://www.spreaker.com/user/downtownrams
AgamemnonKevin Demoff declined to comment on the Donald negotiations. But he said the Whitworth and Woods contracts were not restructured “solely” because of that situation. https://t.co/dWZnoxAMGr
— Gary Klein (@LATimesklein) August 30, 2018
AgamemnonHearing the Donald deal is in the 18mil range, not the 23-24mil range as suspected. 😳 Basically, 55 million, all guaranteed for three years with options after.
— Tyler Bearde (@tbearde) August 30, 2018
We can look at it this way. Or, divide it this way,
2018 – $7 million
2019 – $24 million
2020 – $24 million
and the rest are options(remaining years are always options on all contracts. They are all written like a series of 1 year contracts.). The new money is $48M for 2 years. This it is $24 million/yr. I would guess the remaining years would all be about $24M. 😉 AgamemnonThis could mean that they are giving Donald more money up front and/or they might want to sign another player.
This is the long version of my response. It’s not so much written to you ag as it is to anyone including those who don’t follow contract stuff. That means I say a lot of things I know you know. So I am writing also to posters who don’t know these details.
So agreed that this could be about AD, and then again might not be.
There’s 2 ways to do an extension like this.
First is what they did with Cooks, and what GB did with Rodgers. You just add on a new contract, and the old contract then just plays out. So with Cooks, 2018 is his old contract, and the new one starts in 2019. That’s the 5 years, 81 M.
Another way to do it is to rewrite the old contract and add it to the new one. So if they did that, 2018 would be part of a new deal for AD, which is not how they did it with Cooks. If they do it that way with AD, then, restructuring AW & RW could be part of re-doing AD’s 2018 contract (along with adding more years).
And then as I said it’s also possible that AW and RW have nothing to do with AD, but maybe that has to do with something else we don’t know about yet.
It;s all up in the air but we will know in a few days.
I just count new money, new years. What they do or how they move the money around doesn’t figure in for me. I don’t tear up the old contract. I just add the new stuff on and figure the rest is them moving stuff around for Cap purposes.
It is fine to do it the way you suggest. I just don’t bother. They got Donald at a bargain on a contract. They paid a premium on another, whatever.
AgamemnonThis could mean that they are giving Donald more money up front and/or they might want to sign another player.
AgamemnonIs Aaron Donald deal already done?
Is Aaron Donald deal already done?
Posted by Mike Florio on August 30, 2018, 9:33 AM EDTWith so much sudden optimism flowing from the Rams regarding a new contract for defensive tackle Aaron Donald, here’s a fair question: Is the deal already done?
Not “done” in the sense that it’s signed, sealed, and/or delivered. “Done” in the sense that the terms have been agreed to, that the paperwork is being drawn up, that cap space is being cleared, and that it’s just a matter of time before i’s dotted and t’s are crossed.
Personally, I think (I don’t know, I think) it’s already done.
But the Rams won’t be leaking or announcing news of a done Donald deal as Labor Day Weekend approaches. They’ll want it to be the top story as Labor Day Weekend concludes, generating 2-3 days of coverage and siphoning attention away from the Falcons-Eagles regular-season opener.
These are no longer the St. Louis Rams. These are the L.A. Rams. Sharing a city with the Chargers and a national stage with too many other teams that have a bigger footprint. As one league source predicted on Wednesday, the Rams will find a way to unveil the Donald deal in a manner that makes maximum impact, not just for the purposes of generating P.R. but also with the goal of making money by inspiring people to buy PSLs and season tickets and other things that will help pay for that multi-billion-dollar hole in the ground in Inglewood.
So here’s the prediction. Someone will leak that a deal is done on Monday, the press conference will happen on Tuesday, and Donald will be ready to go when the Rams open the season as the last game of Week One, on Monday night against the Raiders.
AgamemnonRams GM Les Snead, on McVay’s massive Aaron Donald optimism: “Sean definitely is not speaking out of turn. He is well aware of updates, but nothing has agreed upon.” Snead said he would avoid going into details about negotiations or their recent progress.
— Rich Hammond (@Rich_Hammond) August 29, 2018
AgamemnonNew Orleans Saints@Saints
Roster Move: The #Saints have acquired QB Teddy Bridgewater (@teddyb_h2o) from the New York Jets in a tradeThe Saints got Bridgewater and 6th for a 3rd. If memory serves?
AgamemnonPFT: Los Angeles Rams predicted to announce Aaron Donald extension on Tuesday (UPDATED)
By Sosa Kremenjas@QBsMVP Aug 29, 2018, 1:25pm CDT
Pro Football Talk just tweeted that the Los Angeles Rams will have a press conference set for Tuesday to “discuss” the Aaron Donald deal:
Someone way smarter than me has predicted a Tuesday press conference for the Rams and Aaron Donald to discuss his expected deal, a day specifically picked by the team for maximum P.R. impact.
— ProFootballTalk (@ProFootballTalk) August 29, 2018
This is interesting, particularly for the “maximum P.R. impact” angle. Maximizing the impact of public relations fits the Rams’ business operations under COO/Vice President of Operations Kevin Demoff.
The timing is strange though. It may have something to do with a major college football game on Monday night between Florida State and Virginia Tech blanketing ESPN networks. It also comes out of the Labor Day weekend as we slingshot into Week 1 of the regular season.
As recently reported, the talks have seriously heated up from both the Rams and Donald’s side, as there is a reported urgency to get this deal done with the regular season creeping up in days.
For a saga that seemed like it was never ending, this suggests it’s finally coming to a bright end for both sides. Though it took long, one thing was for certain: neither side was ready for a divorce.
(UPDATE at 2:40pm ET)
PFT sent along this after we published this:
That’s not a report. Just passing along a prediction that seems very plausible.
— ProFootballTalk (@ProFootballTalk) August 29, 2018
AgamemnonAlso, Aaron Donald deal is nearly done.
— Benjamin Allbright (@AllbrightNFL) August 29, 2018
Agamemnon
He talks about Donald at ~4:05. Clayton’s number sound low to me.
AgamemnonVery optimistic like I said a little earlier in the week Aaron Donald and the #Rams announce an extension on Friday after the last preseason game.
— Downtown Rams (@DowntownRams) August 28, 2018
I am not sure how much to credit this since none of the sources by any reporter have proved to be any better than speculation so far.
AgamemnonTuesday, Aug 28, 2018 06:20 PM
McVay: ‘There is a Level of Increased Optimism’ on Potential Donald Extension
Myles Simmons of the Los Angeles Rams at the Agoura Hills Office, Tuesday, April 10, 2018, in Agoura Hills, CA. (Jeff Lewis/Rams)Throughout the course of the preseason, head coach Sean McVay has been asked nearly every day if there’s an update on defensive tackle Aaron Donald.
He always dutifully answers. But usually he says there’s nothing new to report, adding that it’s a priority for the organization to find a solution with the reigning AP Defensive Player of the Year.
Tuesday, however, was different.
Very different.
It started with a question regarding how the Rams’ brass met with Donald’s representation prior to the final preseason game in Green Bay a year ago. A reporter inquired whether there was a similar plan for this upcoming trip to New Orleans.
McVay’s tone shifted a bit, becoming more like he was joking. And he replied, “Things are heating up — you might see that sooner or later. That could happen. It’s exciting. We’re very optimistic. Seriously, we are.”
The emphasis on “very” was McVay’s.
Another reporter asked for clarification — was McVay referring to a trip for a meeting, or to a Donald extension?
“Could be both,” McVay said, still sounding like he could be joking. “So, let’s put it this way — maybe it’ll happen.”
So, maybe it’ll happen? Did something change over the course of the last few days?
“Yes,” McVay said, then paused for a few seconds. “No, I’m just kidding.”
Huh? Because of McVay’s tone, the response left reporters a bit puzzled. And he didn’t clear the waters very much when he went on to mention Rams E.V.P. of football operations Kevin Demoff.
“The dialogue has increased. The level of urgency is extremely high on both sides,” McVay said, actually sounding serious. But then… “And, you know, let’s go Kevin Demoff — let’s go man. No, I’m just kidding.”
Head coach Sean McVay of the Los Angeles Rams speaks to the media after practice, Wednesday, August 22, 2018, in Thousand Oaks, Calif. (Jeff Lewis/Rams)Wait, what?
“I think that we’re hopeful that we’ll see if something changes in the near future,” McVay said. “This is a serious statement: I’m very optimistic that things will be good for us.”
OK, but really. Are the Rams going to meet with Donald and/or his representation in person this week?
“If it’s not done, yeah. We’re going to do everything we can to be proactive,” McVay said — and he really did seem serious at this point. “Whether it’s before the game or after, being out in New Orleans — whatever we can do to make it work and do our part to try to demonstrate to Aaron how important it is for us to get him here, be a part of this team.
“And all jokes aside, there is a level of increased optimism,” McVay continued, seeming as serious as the first clause implied. “I’m not really kidding around with that. There’s a lot of things that need to get done for it to be finalized. But, we’re working in a positive direction.”
August has been a month for movement when it comes to the potential Donald extension. General manager Les Snead told reporters when the club was in Baltimore for the first preseason game that the team and Donald’s representation were in the “same zip code” for a deal, adding “zip code usually means you’re close.” And there have been a number of media reports since then that the two sides are nearing a final agreement as Week 1 draws near.
But until Tuesday, McVay had never gone so far as to as saying, “level of increased optimism.” And even though McVay acknowledged that he was about to “get everyone excited,” he added, “It’s the truth.”
Then, he looked directly into a camera to broadcast a message to his star defensive tackle.
“Aaron,” McVay said, “see you soon, buddy.”
AgamemnonBoth sides should be happy with anything between $23 and $24 million. imo
Yeah I agree with that.
Been saying it too though I got there from different calculations. But 24 M is good and less than 22 M is bad.
I think $22 million is a bit low. It matches Von Miller, which matches franchise numbers for DEs. 10.4% of Cap, at least the way I figure. 😉
AgamemnonI liked him at USC. He didn’t strike me as being “great” at anything. His measurables were never impressive to me. But the guy was just always open when they needed a catch.
Woods always seems to catch the ball.
Agamemnonbtw, zn. I think the Von Miller contract is low. If I went off that then $22 million/yr is the bench mark. His guaranteed money is lower too.(the way I do it.} I think everybody pushing those figures are too low. Von Miller got the same percentage of the Cap that a franchised DE gets, 10.4%
AgamemnonDo I have OCD? I keep looking on the net every hour, every sports station, including the NFL Network, just hoping to hear breaking news, to hear Aaron Donald signed. I’m really nervous. Want him signed, and in uniform so bad. Do you call that OCD?
Take the long view. 10 years from now, whatever happens, this will all be history. I fell confident it will happen without Donald missing any games.
AgamemnonSo on your approach, what’s an “annual avg.” amount for AD in 2018 if it’s based on Suh?
$23.1 million to $24.15 million/yr, $23.1 matches Suh, I would be willing to go to $24.15. The guaranteed money is a function of length of contract and money per year. I figure $60-80 million. With the CBA ending after 2020, it makes it a little hard to estimate guaranteed money. What happens if there are no games or something?
.
5-6 years, $23.1 million to $24.15 million/yr, $60 million to $80 million guaranteed on a contract extension. Agamemnon
