10 NFL stars who must be extended this preseason
By Ian Wharton
Aaron Donald, DT, Los Angeles Rams
Like Mack, Aaron Donald has a $21 million projection from Joel Corry, but a team seemingly hesitant to pay their transcendent star. The Los Angeles Rams have taken care of everyone around Donald, leaving them right up against the cap limit, with less than $1 million of wiggle room, per OverTheCap.
There’s two ways to interpret this decision by the Rams. Either the other deals helped clear the way for the team to focus solely on a Donald deal, or they intend on playing hardball. The latter option is unacceptable because he’s irreplaceable.
General manager Les Snead still has an obnoxious amount of money available to him in future years despite this year being tight. It’s not going to be an issue to pay Donald until quarterback Jared Goff needs a new deal in 2020, and even then, the only long-term significant money on the books set for then is Todd Gurley, Brandin Cooks, and maybe Marcus Peters after next year.
A $21 million-a-year deal would completely upend the interior pass-rush market as we know it. Fletcher Cox is currently averaging just over $17 million on new money, so the two sides may need to meet closer to the middle of those two price points. Where Donald should hold steady is getting closer to 50 percent of his deal guaranteed, which would be a dramatic increase over comparable deals.
Proposed contract extension: Five years, $100 million, $50 million guaranteed.