Los Angeles Rams: Aaron Donald seems unlikely to be with team in Baltimore

It doesn’t look like the Los Angeles Rams and Aaron Donald are going to reach an agreement on a new contract anytime soon.

With less than a week to go before the Los Angeles Rams take part in their first preseason game against the Baltimore Ravens, the frustration continues to build over Aaron Donald being absent, as the defensive star continues to holdout while battling for a new contract.

Last summer, Donald’s holdout ended up missing all of camp and preseason, but the circumstances are much different this time around.

Instead of the Rams being at an advantage for Donald still having two years remaining on his rookie contract, the team could be at risk to losing him in free agency down the road.

Over the last four seasons, Donald has quickly made a name for himself as one of the league’s top defensive players, and it’s easy to understand his frustration over this whole contract situation since he deserves to be paid like one. Not to mention, Los Angeles has been handing out new contracts left and right over the last couple of weeks, with Donald being the odd-man out.

At this rate, it’s tough to imagine that Donald is going to show up for training camp anytime soon since the two parties don’t appear to be close on an agreement, meaning it’s unlikely he’s going to be heading to Baltimore, as Sean McVay pointed out on Saturday.

Hearing McVay say there hasn’t been much progress just adds to the list of frustrations over this situation, as it seems pretty clear that Donald isn’t going to end his holdout in time before the team heads to Baltimore to get ready for their first preseason game.

Expectations were high for the Rams heading into the offseason after being one of the biggest surprises from the 2017 season. And while the defense would most likely be just fine without Donald if this holdout drags into the regular season, his presence alone increases their Super Bowl chances to a whole new level.

Plus, one of the main reasons why there was so much excitement over the signing of Ndamukong Suh this offseason was due to the potential with him lining up on the defensive line with Donald, which seems like an absolute nightmare for any opposing quarterback.

Only time will tell when it comes to whether this dream scenario for Los Angeles on defense will come true, but this whole thing with Donald isn’t looking good one bit. For the second year in a row, it looks like the Rams will be heading into their first preseason game without Donald, and no end in sight for his holdout.