Los Angeles Rams: Aaron Donald contract rumors meaningless until deal in place

The rumors surrounding the Los Angeles Rams and Aaron Donald being close on a deal seem to change each week.

As the Los Angeles Rams continue to prepare for their next preseason game against the Oakland Raiders, a new set of rumors surrounding Aaron Donald being close to signing a new deal with the organization have re-emerged this week, which shouldn’t be surprising at all.

With the Rams heading into the second week of preseason action, many expected the two sides would have been able to reach an agreement by now, especially when seeing how players like Todd Gurley and Brandin Cooks received extensions of their own.

Instead, Donald continues to holdout while fighting for a new deal, and all Los Angeles can do is do their best to remain focused so this doesn’t become a major distraction.

Between seeing him holdout all of last summer along with the reports that discussions had been taking place since the middle of last season, there are plenty of reasons why most Rams fans assumed a deal would have been completed by now.

While the argument can be made that Los Angeles would still be fine on defense if Donald’s holdout ended up lasting until the regular season, his presence alone takes this unit to a whole new level. Plus, let’s not forget that part of the decision by Ndamukong Suh to sign with the team in the offseason was due to the fact that he would get to be part of the same defensive line as Donald.

Only time will tell when it comes to seeing how this whole situation plays out with Donald since it seems like it’s only going to get worse the longer it drags out, but once again, there seems to be new reports on potential progress for a deal.

From Pro Football Talk:

"Per a league source, chatter is increasing regarding the possibility of the Rams and Donald getting a deal done soon. If it happens, it will mean that the two sides found a way to bridge the gap between how the Rams value Donald, and how Donald values Donald."

Should Los Angeles fans be excited over this recent news? In most situations, the answer would be yes.

However, when looking at how often the story seems to change in regards to Donald and the Rams coming closer to an agreement, it’s tough to feel any sort of excitement at this point until an actual deal is in place.

Why? Because while there may be reports on Monday about chatter increasing over a new deal getting done, nobody would be surprised at all if Tuesday were to arrive, and another report came out about how the two sides are still far apart on reaching an agreement.

For obvious reasons, Rams fans would love nothing more than to see Donald finally receive a new deal sooner rather than later to make them feel better about the team’s chances at making a Super Bowl run. But for now, all of the talk surrounding Donald and a potential new contract seems meaningless until an actual deal is in place.