Rams must love offseason program without Aaron Donald contract drama

Unlike the previous two offseasons, the Los Angeles Rams don’t have to worry about Aaron Donald’s contract situation.

After taking home Defensive Player of the Year honors for the second year in a row, it’s safe to make the assumption that Aaron Donald is the best defender in football, and the Los Angeles Rams are beyond thankful to have him part of the picture.

From earning Pro Bowl honors each season since coming to the league in 2014 to recently setting a career high with 20.5 sacks in 2018, it’s easy to see why the Rams value Donald so much on the defensive side of the football.

On Monday, Donald and his teammates participated in the first day of their offseason program, which was a great change of pace since most of the attention in recent weeks has been focused on the draft.

Even more exciting, unlike the last two seasons, Rams fans don’t have to worry about Donald continuing to be unhappy over his contract situation since Los Angeles finally rewarded the star defender with quite the hefty contract right before Week 1 last year.

Two years in a row consisting of holding out all of training camp and preseason eventually led Donald signing a whopping six-year extension worth $135 million last August.

And while there were some critics who believed the Rams were overpaying their star defender, no one seems to be questioning the decision anymore after watching Donald put together another career year last season.

Watching Donald take questions from reporters on Monday without having to worry about whether he would holdout again in a few months from now when training camp gets underway was a feeling of relief for Rams fans.

Talent wise, Donald has one of the best work ethics in the NFL, and while everything would turn out to be just fine in each of the last two seasons when it comes to still making an impact, it does help in a big way that his contract won’t be an offseason distraction this time.

Since Donald’s contract is no longer an issue, one can only imagine the kind of extra motivation he’s going to be playing with in 2019 after Los Angeles came up shy in Super Bowl 53 to the New England Patriots.

Topping 20.5 sacks may sound challenging, but if any player can pull it off, Donald and his insane worth ethic seems like a strong candidate to do so.