Los Angeles Rams: 5 questions after franchise tagging Lamarcus Joyner

3. Will decision on Joyner impact future Donald deal?

Unlike this time last offseason, the Rams actually seem to be making progress when it comes to a new potential deal for Aaron Donald, which he clearly deserves when looking at how much of an impact he’s made during his first four seasons. In fact, the argument can be made that Donald deserves to be the highest paid defensive player in the NFL, but instead of focusing on that, Los Angeles just needs to make sure they do whatever it takes to make sure their defensive superstar is around for the long run.

When looking at the money he was making last season, it was easy to understand why Donald was feeling so much frustration towards Los Angeles since he’s been an absolute freak for opponents trying to contain. Just look at the 2017 season when Donald was able to tie a career high of 11 sacks along with recording five forced fumbles despite all of the extra attention he received, and it’s clear the man deserves to be paid top dollar.

The fact that Donald’s representatives were recently meeting with members of the Rams organization at the NFL Combine in Indianapolis is a great sign for all parties involved. Using the franchise tag on Joyner over Watkins to save some money may not seem like that big of a deal, but if that money can be applied towards a future deal to lock Donald up, it would be completely worth it for Los Angeles.