LOS ANGELES -- For Los Angeles Rams fans, ESPN's NFLRank, an annual ranking of the NFL's Top 100 players, offered a stark reminder of the man they are missing.
Aaron Donald, the game's best interior lineman, was listed third, behind only two future Hall of Fame quarterbacks in Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers. Donald was the only Rams player on the list, and he isn't even with the team. The regular-season opener is now less than two weeks away, and Donald's holdout continues.
On Sunday, first-year Rams head coach Sean McVay was asked if he had received word from Donald the way the Pittsburgh Steelers did about Le'Veon Bell, when Bell -- eighth on the list, which is determined by 53 NFL experts -- tweeted that he would report by Friday, the day after the last preseason games.
“We haven’t received any word like that," McVay said. "Right now, that dialogue is ongoing. I know we had some meetings and discussions with their representation, and that’s something that we’re working through to try and get figured out as soon as possible. If we do, we’ll be excited about that. And if not, we’ve got to be ready to adjust and move forward. That’s the approach that we’ve taken. But certainly we’re very optimistic and hopeful that we’ll get that done."
Negotiations between the Rams' front office and Donald's reps at CAA are tricky, because Donald is under control at such a team-friendly rate for these next two years and because he has performed to the level of the game's highest-paid defensive players.
Donald has been invited to the Pro Bowl after each of his first three seasons and has been named first-team All-Pro after each of the last two. We'll start there. His 28 sacks from 2014 to 2016 are four more than any other defensive tackle. Last year, his 31 quarterback hits led the NFL and his 17 tackles for loss were tied for the lead. His explosiveness off the snap and his lightning-fast hands make him the game's most disruptive force, at a spot where defensive linemen aren't supposed to penetrate so often.
Some may have concerns about how Donald transitions from a 4-3 to a 3-4 under new defensive coordinator Wade Phillips -- especially because he hasn't been around the team -- but they're not on the Rams.
"The biggest thing for him is just really getting into the playbook and learning the plays," Michael Brockers, the Rams' nose tackle and Donald's good friend, said just before the start of preseason games. "But this guy is so special. And the way Wade uses us, I know he will succeed. That’s the big thing. We're not really worried about if he's staying in shape or if he's going to come here and be able to be productive. He’s going to be productive in this scheme."
Donald is owed less than $9 million in base salary from 2017 to 2018, which represents a sizeable gap between him and the game's highest-paid defensive players. Broncos outside linebacker Von Miller signed a six-year, $114 million contract that guarantees him $70 million, and Dolphins defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh signed a six-year, $114.375 million deal that guarantees him nearly $60 million.
But those players got their contracts after they had played five NFL seasons and were thus no longer so affordable under their rookie deals. The only one among the five highest-paid defensive players to sign his big contract after only three years was Texans defensive end J.J. Watt, who got a six-year deal worth just over $100 million, with nearly $52 million guarantees, back in 2014.
McVay said the situation with Donald is "the same as where it's been the last couple weeks," which essentially means that there hasn't really been any movement. Asked if the urgency to get him back picks up this week, now that the regular-season opener is so close, McVay said, "Every day there's a heightened reason in wanting him to be around."
"We’d love to have him around, and we’re working hard to try to come to a solution with respect to the process.”