If Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald does not report to camp by Tuesday, he will loose an accrued season. That would make Donald a restricted free agent after the 2018 season, as opposed to an unrestricted free agent. 
That’s a big deal, or at least, it would be a big deal for most players. In the case of Donald, he doesn’t see restricted free agency as a major issue since the team will likely franchise tag him anyway. As an RFA without a franchise tag, teams would be likely to consider a first-round tender for Donald, and that’s not something the Rams want to chance.
Ultimately, Donald would still prefer to be on course for unrestricted free agency, but it’s a sacrifice that he’s willing to make in order to get what he wants. The truly hard decisions begin on Thursday, the date of the Rams’ first preseason games. Donald can be fined a regular season game check for every exhibition game he misses, and the fines could total more than $3.2MM if he does not show up between now and the start of the season.
Donald’s camp has been indicating that he will not report to the Rams until he gets a new contract, so this could potentially turn into a messy situation.
I understand making sure you are looking out for yourself in a league with non guaranteed deals but what I don’t like is when these guys can’t abide by what was collectively bargained by their own union. I know these guys weren’t part of the nfl when that CBA deal was struck but its part of the deal. This is why this deal was put into place was to make sure there was money available for the guys already part of the union and not for those who had yet to join it. I find it ironic that the NFLPA would file a grievance over issues but when the teams can’t get a player under contract to report the only course of action they have is to levy fines against that player. That only creates a larger gap in the relationship between team and player. The team still retains some control with free agent status but what do players really prove in this?
The way I see this playing out is going to be very similar to Cousins and Bell. Pay them a 4 year rookie deal and 2 franchise tags. This will eat up the majority of his prime at a budgeted cost and they’ll hit free agency at 30 and take lesser deals than they could’ve gotten had they realized it sooner. Donald will be a year older in this due to the 5th year option.