Beyond the plethora of major moves the Los Angeles Rams have made this offseason, star defensive tackle Aaron Donald’s contract situation has remained a looming concern. Donald is set to entire the final year of his rookie deal that could potentially allow him to hit the open market March.
The Rams have been quite clear throughout this process that the 26-year-old is a huge part of the team’s long-term future. During the team organized Draft Preview Roundtable, general manager Les Snead voiced much confidence that Donald will be in a Rams uniform for a long time, according to Rich Hammond of The Orange County Register:
Les Snead at Rams trade event, on Aaron Donald: “The end of the timeline is, we’re going to make Aaron Donald a Ram for a long time.”
— Rich Hammond (@Rich_Hammond) April 26, 2018
This falls in line with much of the chatter that the Rams have continued to express about the situation as Snead had previously stated that the team was close to making him the highest-paid defensive player in the league. In fact, the further this has gone along the more progressive and confident the team has become with something being hammered out in the near future.
Donald has certainly put himself in the position to secure a lucrative contract behind his stellar play on the field through his first four seasons that has earned him the reputation as being arguably the best defensive player in the league. This has seen him earn his first NFL Defensive Player of the Year award this past season along with four consecutive Pro Bowl selection, and third three straight All-Pro First Team nod.
He also holds the Rams record for most sacks (39.0) by a defensive tackle and is the only player at his position with at least eight sacks in each of his first four years since the 1982 season. Donald clearly has the resume to garner a contract that could surpass the six-year, $114.5 million that Von Miller received from the Denver Broncos. It may just be a matter of time before he gets a record-breaking contract at some point in the near future this offseason.
