Rams Counting On Lesser-Known LBs
- Although the Rams drafted three linebackers and have emerging backup Matt Longacre due back from injury, the team that devoted substantial offseason resources to restocking its defensive line and secondary doesn’t have much in the way of certainty on its second level. The Rams traded Robert Quinn and Alec Ogletree, shedding salary but creating lineup vacancies. The team is counting on Longacre, 2017 fourth-rounder Samson Ebukam and third-year UDFA Cory Littleton to be first-string presences, Joe Curley of USA Today notes. Los Angeles drafted edges Ogbonnia Okoronkwo and Trevon Young in the fifth and sixth rounds, respectively, and brought in ILB Micah Kiser with a fifth-round pick. However, Curley adds that ex-Chief inside ‘backer Ramik Wilson could be called upon as a possible starter as well in this still-muddled situation.
Rams' Joyner Has Leverage In Talks
- Kirk Cousins‘ open-minded approach to the franchise tag should serve as inspiration to this year’s franchise tagged players, Albert Breer of The MMQB argues. That includes Rams safety Lamarcus Joyner, who is set to make $11.287MM this year and would call for a $13.544MM salary if tagged again next year. By standing pat, Joyner would receive either $11.287MM this year and a trip to free agency in March, or nearly $25MM across two seasons before hitting the open market in 2020. That could give Joyner the confidence he needs to stand his ground in extension talks, though this year’s disappointing free agent market for safeties could also steer him towards taking a deal.
Latest On Aaron Donald, Rams Extension Talks
Even with recent reports indicating that star defender Aaron Donald was looking to reset the market for non-quarterbacks, Rams COO and VP Kevin Demoff told NFL Network’s Steve Wyche that extension talks have been going well.
“I think when you build stadiums like this, it’s with players like Aaron Donald in mind,” Demoff said (via Marc Sessler of NFL.com). “And we’ve been at this process, working with them for the past year and a half to try to make sure that Aaron is not only here for the opening of the stadium but plays well into his years. And that he can play in the 2022 Super Bowl in his own home stadium.
“So we’re working on it and we’ll keep pushing forward. The dialogue’s been great. It’s been positive. I think [Donald] and coach [Sean] McVay have a terrific relationship. We look forward to getting this done. And putting Aaron in the place where he should be among the highest-paid defensive players.”
Demoff refused to give a definitive timeline for any signing, joking that the deal would be completed before the team’s new stadium was completed. The executive did admit that the front office is hoping to have a deal done before training camp.
It sounds like both sides are trying to avoid the scenario from 2017. Donald ultimately held out for all of training camp and preseason, and his absence forced him to miss the first week of the season. This time around, both the Rams and Donald seem committed to agreeing to a new deal, although it’s going to be pricey for the organization. If the 2014 first-round pick is indeed hoping to reset the market, then he’d surely be eyeing an average annual salary that tops Von Miller‘s league-leading $19.1MM. GM Les Snead previously acknowledged that the Rams will have to sign Donald to an unprecedented contract.
Of course, if there’s any defender who’s worth a top contract, it’s Donald. The 27-year-old has earned four straight Pro Bowl nods and three straight first-team All-Pro honors. Despite ultimately missing a pair of games last season, the defensive lineman was still plenty productive. Donald ended up finishing the campaign with 41 tackles, 11 sacks, and a career-high five forced fumbles.
Latest On DB Brandon Bryant
Mississippi State defensive back Brandon Bryant is making his case to NFL scouts in advance of the NFL’s supplemental draft. On Monday, 40 scouts from the Rams, Browns, Falcons, Jets, Giants, 49ers, Redskins, Colts, Steelers, Saints, Jaguars, Texans, Raiders, and Ravens watched Bryant audition, Chase Goodbread of NFL.com tweets. 
There may have been even more clubs on hand to watch Bryant work out, according to Tony Pauline of Draft Insider (on Twitter). Pauline hears there were “about 20 teams on hand” and he hears his 40-yard-dash times ranged from the high 4.3’s to the low 4.4’s. He also conducted five separate one-on-one meetings on Sunday.
Bryant established himself as one of the top safeties in the SEC in his time with the Bulldogs. Across three years, Bryant compiled 157 tackles and five interceptions in 37 games. This year, after Mississippi State hired Joe Moorhead as their new head coach, Bryant announced he was going pro.
This year’s supplemental draft will take place on July 11. Other entrants include former Western Michigan cornerback Sam Beal and Virginia Tech cornerback Adonis Alexander.
Extra Points: Mack, Donald, AAF, Spurrier, Tebow
Aaron Donald and Khalil Mack are two of the best defensive players in the league. They are also both heading into the final year of their contracts. They’re both angling for new deals and they’ve both threatened to holdout at various times to get those new deals. But, as Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com points out, there is a key difference in the two All-Pro’s situations.
Donald held out of training camp last year while Mack didn’t. Donald showed up just before the start of the regular season and ended up missing the first game before returning to form and easily winning the league’s defensive player of the year award. Since Donald missed all of training camp last year, due to an NFL rule, if he were to miss it again this year he wouldn’t be eligible to be an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season. Instead he would become a restricted free agent and the Rams would be able to match any offer Donald were to receive on the open market. As such, it appears Mack has much more leverage in his contract negotiations as Donald will be more or less forced to show up for training camp whether a deal gets done or not.
Here’s more from the football universe:
- The upstart new football league the Alliance of American Football continues to make waves as they ramp up operations. The team recently announced San Antonio as the final city for their inaugural season, and St. Louis was apparently hoping to get the spot, according to Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. St. Louis was apparently passed over due to issues with the proposed stadium for the team.
- In more AAF news, legendary coach Steve Spurrier, who will be coaching the Orlando AAF team, is recruiting Tim Tebow to be his team’s quarterback. Spurrier reached out to Tebow privately, according to Florio, but Tebow plans on continuing to play baseball for now.
- In case you missed it, Eli Manning recently spoke about issues like retirement, Odell Bekcham Jr., and the Giants’ 2018 season.
Extra Points: Anthem, Giants, Rams
Last month, the NFL changed its rules regarding the national anthem, allowing players who choose to not stand to remain in the locker room. So far, the new policy has not been well-received, and this week a group of civil rights organizations asked the NFL to eliminate the new rule.
“This policy represses peaceful, non-disruptive protest of police violence against unarmed African Americans and other people of color,” the various groups wrote (via USA Today). “It is disappointing that a league built on grit and competition lacks the constitution to stomach a call for basic equality and fairness.”
The groups want to meet with Roger Goodell to discuss the situation, but it’s not clear whether he’ll take them up on their offer, or if the league is willing to change course on its decision.
Here’s more from around the NFL:
- In addition to some of the more obvious candidates for extensions this offseason, CBSSports.com’s Joel Corry suggests Giants safety Landon Collins, Rams wide receiver Brandin Cooks, Bengals defensive end Carlos Dunlap, Vikings defensive end Danielle Hunter, and Ravens linebacker C.J. Mosley are among those in line for new deals. Collins’ case is particularly interesting as the Giants shift to a different scheme under new defensive coordinator James Bettcher. The Giants will ask Collins to play a good deal of man coverage, which isn’t necessarily his strong suit, so the Giants might not want to pay him at the top of the safety market.
- In an interview with SiriusXM, Steelers free agent safety Mike Mitchell indicated that he hasn’t received much interest on the open market. The Steelers said in March that a return was possible, but that seems unlikely after the team added rookie safeties Terrell Edmunds (first round) and Marcus Allen (fith round) as well as free agent Morgan Burnett.
Aqib Talib On Blocking Trade To 49ers
In March, Broncos GM John Elway reached agreement on a deal to send Aqib Talib to the 49ers for a fourth-round pick in the 2019 draft. Or, so he thought. Talib blocked the deal, forcing Elway to instead send the cornerback to the Rams for a 2018 fifth-round choice. In an interview with Andy Benoit of SI.com, Talib said the notion of going to San Francisco was a non-starter for him. 
“I told [Elway], ‘I ain’t even gonna take no physical in San Fran, so there won’t be no trade,’” Talib said.
Ultimately, Talib was willing to play for only three teams – the Rams, Patriots, and Cowboys. The veteran cited familiarity – both on-and off-the-field – as the reason for his three-team list.
“I’m going on year 11, man. I’m not trying to go learn a whole new system. I wanted to go somewhere I’d be comfortable.” Talib said. “I’m comfortable if I can live at my house in Dallas and go just around the corner to work. I cut my bills in half. Or if I can go play in a defensive scheme that I’ve played in before. So I told him Dallas, New England or L.A.”
Ultimately, Talib got his way as he reunited with Wade Phillips in Los Angeles. Meanwhile, the Rams assumed his contract, which calls for $11MM in 2018 and $8MM in 2019. Talib reportedly would have also been okay with an outright release, but he has no complaints after landing with one of his preferred teams – a Rams club that has gone to great lengths to improve its defense.
In addition to Talib, the Rams have also added defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh and Pro Bowl cornerback Marcus Peters. On the other side of the Ball, the Rams brought in Brandin Cooks to offset the loss of Sammy Watkins.
Minor NFL Transactions: 6/18/18
Here are Monday’s minor moves.
Los Angeles Rams
- Waived: RB Larry Rose
- Waived: DB Chucky Williams
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Waived/injured: S Maurice Fleming
Latest On Aaron Donald, Rams
Aaron Donald‘s seen several players follow his 2017 example and hold out in pursuit of an extension, but the Rams defensive tackle remains at an impasse with his team. Specific demands have not come out like they have in many past holdouts, but a number has emerged on the Donald front.
The fifth-year defender wants to reset the market for non-quarterbacks, Lindsay Thiry of ESPN.com notes, adding that the reigning defensive player of the year wants at least $20MM per year. This is understandable and may even be on the low end for what Donald could command.
That $20MM figure would top Von Miller‘s $19.1MM-AAV amount, but given the cap’s rise by $22MM since Miller signed his Broncos extension in 2016, Donald signing for $20MM annually wouldn’t comprise as much of Los Angeles’ cap as Miller’s deal does of Denver’s. Miller’s Broncos deal, at the time, represented just more than 12 percent of the 2016 cap. If Donald were seeking a 2018 equivalent to that agreement, it would cost the Rams more than $22MM per year.
While there are obviously more components to these talks, Donald accepting $20MM per year could actually be considered a team-friendly decision and represent slower growth for the top-tier defender market — much like when quarterback salaries proved slow to move in the years after Aaron Rodgers‘ 2013 extension.
Rams GM Les Snead‘s acknowledged the Rams are going to have to finalize an unprecedented contract for Donald, who’s unquestionably been the best interior defender in the league over the past two seasons. But what’s unknown is how much of a gap will separate Miller’s deal from Donald’s new one.
But given that Donald staged an unsuccessful holdout last year, he may have to be more pragmatic about his latest attempt. Should the 27-year-old superstar fail to report to the Rams by August 7, he will not be classified as a UFA in 2019. Instead, he’ll be a restricted free agent because of his 2017 holdout. While Donald’s talents would draw a monstrous offer sheet elsewhere in an unrealistic scenario where he’s allowed to hit the RFA market, thus forcing the Rams to place the franchise tag on him if this summer’s situation drags longer than it’s expected to, losing UFA status could well induce Donald to show up at Rams camp instead of skipping it entirely like he did last year.
Poll: Who Will End Offseason As NFL’s Highest-Paid Defender?
The league’s seen a large number of standout players skip mandatory workouts this week, setting up an eventful stretch despite teams being on break between minicamps and training camps.
The star power from the 2014 draft is driving part of this spree of holdouts, and this summer figures to produce at least one mega-contract for a defender (and likely more). By the time this offseason concludes, the defensive contract landscape will look different. Who will be the league’s new standard-bearer here?
Von Miller‘s held that title for two years, since signing his six-year, $114.6MM extension at the 2016 franchise tag deadline. Multiple stars drafted in the 2014 first round are gunning for contracts that would surpass Miller’s.
Will it be Aaron Donald? Despite playing a position that has not been traditionally compensated as well as Miller’s, Ndamukong Suh‘s 2015 free agency windfall notwithstanding, Donald has been the league’s most dominant interior defender for a bit now. With quarterbacks’ release times steadily accelerating, defenders lined up closer to the ball have seen a change in compensation patterns. Defensive tackles like Fletcher Cox and Kawann Short are each paid more than $16MM annually, and Donald’s operated on a higher level than each during his four-year career.
Holding out for a second straight year, Donald is a key component to a Rams operation that’s taking a more aggressive approach to contention than it did last year. While no deal is imminent, talks will presumably heat up soon. Les Snead‘s already said a Donald resolution will need to involve an NFL-high defender contract, but will other defenders end up with a better deal?
Khalil Mack didn’t follow Donald’s lead and hold out last year, despite both being on the same timeline and the Raiders defensive end beating the Rams defensive tackle to the defensive player of the year throne. Now, Mack’s stayed away from the Raiders throughout the offseason. While the Raiders may be a tad behind the Rams on the preseason hype scale, Mack has been vital to their defense — a perennially shaky unit despite his dominance — and plays the game’s most valuable defensive role.
At 27, Mack is two years younger than Miller. And the cap is now $22MM higher than it was when the Broncos signed their edge-rushing phenom. It stands to reason Mack will sign a more lucrative deal. However, Derek Carr accepted less than market value at $25MM per year to help Oakland be in better position to keep its core together. With that contract on the books, and a situation the Rams do not have to navigate with Jared Goff just yet, will Mack end up just behind Donald in this pursuit? The Raiders also signed Carr in June of last year. Mack signing in June, to conclude a less contentious process than Donald’s, would open the door for Donald to come in and exceed whatever deal the Bay Area parties reach.
What about Jadeveon Clowney? Not as accomplished as the California-dwelling duo, the No. 1 pick in 2014 has become a star in his own right. And at 25, he’s two years younger than both. As injuries have sidetracked J.J. Watt‘s otherworldly career, Clowney’s become one of the league’s best players. The Texans have a history of authorizing this kind of contract — as they did with Watt’s six-year, $100MM pact in 2014 — and have a quarterback at least two years away from an extension.
While Watt’s maladies have clouded his future and made Clowney more indispensable in the process, might Houston be leery of paying league-record money to another injury-prone performer? Clowney is not holding out, but he did not participate in minicamp while recovering from another surgery.
So, which defender will assume Miller’s position? What will it take to finalize such a deal? Will this derby end with a $20MM- or $21MM-per-year contract? Is there a darkhorse player (perhaps the franchise-tagged Demarcus Lawrence?) that could swoop in here? Vote in PFR’s latest poll and weigh in with your view in the comments section!
Who will end offseason as NFL's highest-paid defender?
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Aaron Donald 53% (378)
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Khalil Mack 32% (224)
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Von Miller 7% (48)
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Jadeveon Clowney 5% (36)
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Other 3% (22)
Total votes: 708