The Rams have paid plenty of money this year to two guys who never have worn the team’s uniform in a preseason or regular-season game. So when will they pay the player who has become in four seasons one of the most dominant forces in the entire league?
Defensive tackle Aaron Donald reportedly has told others that he anticipates having a new deal before the start of training camp. But we’ve been hearing “almost there” for months. Will the deal finally get done?
The answer surely resides in the fundamental differences between what Donald wants and what the Rams will offer. Donald undoubtedly is looking for market value. The Rams Clint Boling Jersey , however, can keep him off the market until 2021 at the earliest, via a $6.892 million salary in 2018 and two years of the franchise tag (and roughly $15 million in 2019 and $18 million in 2020).
Under the Rams’ calculation, that’s a three-year haul of just under $40 million. If Donald is looking for $20 million per year, that’s a $20 million gap over the first three years.
The Rams may want to meet in the middle. Donald may be trying to hold firm. His leverage (other than holding out and losing real money) comes from going year to year and forcing his way to the market in 2021, when his franchise-tag number would be close to $26 million (a 44-percent raise over 2020) or the quarterback franchise tender, whichever is greater.
Of course, the Rams may decide to pay whatever it takes to keep him in 2021. Even if the quarterback franchise tag gets to $30 million by then (unlikely), the Rams will have paid $70 million for four years — and that’s still $10 million less than what Donald likely wants over four years.
So then the can gets kicked to 2022, which is an eternity as far as NFL teams are concerned. By then Carl Nassib Jersey , the player will be closing in on 31, with four more years of wear and tear and Father Time possibly commencing the process of making Donald mortal.
The analysis ultimately is a lot like what the Steelers went through with Le'Veon Bell the last two years. What will it take to get the Rams to surrender the right to squat on Donald for the next four years at something in the range of $70 million?
In answering that question, here’s an important consideration: What will the potential impact on the locker room be, if the Rams continue to stiff Donald after giving Ndamukong Suh $14 million for one year and Brandin Cooks a five-year, $81 million deal? Also, with other key players (like Todd Gurley and Jared Goff) eventually due for new deals, will they fear that their efforts under a wage-scale rookie deal will be rewarded with a protracted game of hardball?
The more immediate concern should be whether Donald would actually hold out and skip game checks. Given that Donald caved last year on the eve of Week One, the Rams could be banking on Donald not passing on his weekly bank deposits. The season-long battle between slalom rivals Marcel Hirscher and Henrik Kristoffersen became a snowball fight for once.
Shortly before Hirscher won a World Cup night race on Tuesday, his Norwegian rival had snowballs thrown at him by spectators during his final run.
None of the projectiles hit Kristoffersen but the Norwegian was furious as he reacted with wild arm gestures after crossing the finish.
”That was disrespectful. That was not cool at all,” said Kristoffersen Tyler Kroft Jersey , adding the incident distracted him but did not cost him the victory.
Hirscher, the Austrian six-time overall champion, built on his first-run lead to win by 0.39 seconds. In the final slalom before the Pyeongchang Olympics, he and Kristoffersen were far ahead of the field as third-place Daniel Yule of Switzerland was 2.13 seconds behind.
”I would not have beaten him even if there were no snowballs. Marcel was better today. We are in a league of our own, this battle is really great,” said the Norwegian, who beat Hirscher in a slalom in Kitzbuehel two days ago. Together they have won seven of the season’s eight World Cups in the discipline.
”One time I am ahead by a few hundredths, the next time Marcel is ahead by a few hundredths. Let’s see what happens at the Olympics,” Kristoffersen said.
Hirscher, who didn’t see the incident from the starting gate Andy Dalton Jersey , apologized to Kristoffersen immediately after the race.
”I feel very sorry for Henrik,” said Hirscher, adding that ”99.9 percent” of the 41,000 spectators were great fans. ”But it’s a little bit of a shame that we also have such spectators who do this.”
The incident sparked an outcry on social media, and women’s overall champion Mikaela Shiffrin said on Twitter that ”throwing snowballs or any other kind of obstruction AT racers WHILE they are skiing to throw them off is not only disgusting, but dangerous. Get a life.”
Hirscher got his ninth win of the season and 54th overall, matching Austrian great Hermann Maier’s career total. Only Swedish standout Ingemar Stenmark (86) has won more races.
”It’s unbelievable and a dream has come true. Wow,” said Hirscher, who won slalom gold at the world championships on the same hill five years ago. ”I have never skied in Schladming with so many emotions. The feelings are a bit like the worlds in 2013.”
Hirscher got the record despite breaking his ankle in the offseason and missing his entire preparation period.
”Maybe I should do that more often. Not breaking my ankle, but taking more time off Josh Reynolds Jersey ,” he said.
Among the spectators was Hirscher’s close friend, motorbike rider Matthias Walkner, who had just returned from South America where he won the Dakar Rally.
”I will share a drink with Matthias tonight. It won’t get much better than this,” said Hirscher, whose win was the 500th by an Austrian man in the 51-year history of the World Cup.
Yule got his second career podium two days after finishing third in Kitzbuehel, and said ”doing this in the two temples of slalom is unbelievable.”
The men’s World Cup continues with a downhill and a giant slalom in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, this weekend. Everson Griffen Jersey ,