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Rams GM Les Snead needs Aaron Donald more than Donald needs him

By Steve Rivera

EARTH CITY, MO - MAY 13: (L-R) St. Louis Rams head coach Jeff Fischer, first-round draft pick Aaron Donald and general manager Les Snead pose for a photograph during a press conference at Rams Park on May 13, 2014 in Earth City, Missouri. (Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images)
EARTH CITY, MO - MAY 13: (L-R) St. Louis Rams head coach Jeff Fischer, first-round draft pick Aaron Donald and general manager Les Snead pose for a photograph during a press conference at Rams Park on May 13, 2014 in Earth City, Missouri. (Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images) /
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When your best player is not at training camp, it’s a news item. As he continues to be a no-show, expect Los Angeles Rams GM Les Snead to be the one under the microscope answering the question, why?

Los Angeles Rams General Manager Les Snead is looking for some good fortune this training camp. He needs year two in LA to be the opposite of year one. He needs those draft picks from last year and this past April to not just pan out, but make some noise. He needs a home run with new head coach Sean McVay, a miracle with Jared Goff, and his best player to get into camp.

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Hey Aaron Donald, how about tossing your GM a bone and getting to Irvine, CA before this gets out of hand?

Don’t count on it. The Rams defensive tackle knows what other superstar players know who are playing above their pay grade. He has some leverage RIGHT NOW. So he’s using it.

Two years left on a contract ($1.8 million this season and $6.9 million next year), doesn’t mean much in a system where you have to strike when the iron is hot. Donald and his team know that the pecking order in Los Angeles begins with him, and they want this solved before he puts on a helmet.

Given the state of the Rams, they also know that time may be on their side.

Owner Stan Kroenke knows this. As does COO Kevin Demoff, Snead, and McVay. If, as has been reported, that it is “killing” Aaron to not be in camp, trust that it’s twisting the above Rams brain-trust into knots.

The only positive news is that it is amicable between the parties. At least thus far.

But should this drag on late into camp, and worse case scenario into the beginning of the season, the promise of a better 2017 will likely dissolve into a PR disaster for a team who has gotten it wrong for 10 seasons running.

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Bottom line, the Los Angeles Rams need their best player in camp, and everyone in the NFL know this.

Especially Aaron Donald and Les Snead, who both know leverage when they see it.

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