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Aaron Donald holding out from Los Angeles Rams training camp

By Dan Parzych

(Photo by Stephen Dunn/Getty Images)
(Photo by Stephen Dunn/Getty Images) /
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Los Angeles Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald failed to report to training camp on Friday, as he continues to push for a new contract.

Over the last few months, there’s been speculation surrounding the Los Angeles Rams on whether Aaron Donald would be present for the beginning of training camp after the defensive tackle seemed willing to holdout unless he received a new contract from the organization. Unfortunately, with the two parties failing to reach an agreement on a new deal, it looks like the one thing the Rams couldn’t afford to see happen took place on Friday.

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With players due to report on Friday, Donald failed to show up for the start of training camp for Los Angeles, which means he’s officially a holdout. New Rams head coach Sean McVay seemed confident towards the media on Thursday about his defensive superstar showing up, but it looks like Donald’s absence could be a distraction thanks to this contract situation.

In just three years, Donald has already established a strong reputation for being one of the league’s top defensive players, and the longer Los Angeles waits on a new deal he clearly deserves, the more frustrating this situation is going to be. Not only is Donald coming off a 2016 campaign in which he led the NFL in quarterback hits (31), but he’s recorded 28 sacks while starting all 44 of 48 games in that time frame.

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These numbers may not seem as impressive as some of the other defensive stars in the league, but also keep in mind all of the extra attention Donald tends to receive from opponents since he’s certainly far from easy to cover. For a team that was finally beginning to build some excitement in the offseason thanks to numerous key changes, Les Snead and the rest of the Rams organization better hope this holdout by Donald doesn’t last long since the argument can be made he deserves to be the highest paid defensive player in the league.

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