Rams need extension for Donald sooner to avoid unnecessary drama again

The Los Angeles Rams need to pay Aaron Donald sooner rather than later to avoid another offseason of unnecessary drama.

Last April, the Los Angeles Rams made one of the easiest decisions possible by exercising the fifth-year option on Aaron Donald since the former first-round pick had quickly worked his way into becoming one of the league’s top defensive stars in such a short period of time. Between recording 28 sacks over his first three seasons despite drawing a ton of extra attention from defenders to leading the league in quarterback hits (31) during the 2016 season, it was easy to understand why Donald was feeling so much frustration during his holdout last summer.

For a player like Donald to have a base salary under $2 million last season when looking at what some of the other top defensive stars in the NFL were making was clearly frustrating for the former Pittsburgh standout. And while Donald would eventually end his holdout right before the start of the regular season, the terrifying factor to take into consideration is Donald looked just as dominate as ever, despite the missed time with his teammates during training camp and preseason.

If anything, this was just another example of how great of a work ethic Donald has, and no matter what it takes, Los Angeles needs to reward their defensive star with a hefty contract he clearly deserves. During the regular season, there was talk surrounding members of Donald’s party already being in talks with the organization about a future deal, but with the offseason officially underway, the Rams can’t afford to waste that much time.

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All of the uncertainty surrounding Donald last offseason as far as whether he would actually play in 2017 since a season-long holdout seemed like a possibility was beyond frustrating for both fans and the team. Without question, Donald has proven time after time that he deserves to be one of the league’s top defensive paid players, and while Los Angeles has hinted on numerous occasions that he will get taken care of, it would better to see a new deal in place sooner rather than later. Otherwise, one can only imagine the high level of frustration that could potentially come on Donald’s end, especially after making a huge impact once again last season while helping the Rams earn the NFC West title.