It took a while to get it done, but Aaron Donald finally has his big payday.
He and the Los Angeles Rams agreed to a six-year deal totaling $135 million and containing $87 million in guaranteed money. The fifth-year interior defender also receives a $40 million signing bonus. All in all, it’s the richest contract for a defensive player in NFL history.
For the #Rams and DT Aaron Donald, it’s a 6-year extension worth $135M with $87M guaranteed. He gets a $40M signing bonus.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) August 31, 2018
Los Angeles Rams Sign Aaron Donald to Six-Year Extension
Donald has slowly cemented himself as one of the top defensive linemen in all of pro football. He’s made the Pro Bowl in all four of his seasons in the NFL to date while earning First-Team All-Pro honors in three of them. His 39 sacks in that time are already eighth in Rams franchise history. Only three other players in NFL history have made the Pro Bowl in each of their first four NFL seasons.
Securing Donald long-term pretty much officializes the Rams’ status as one of the top defenses in the NFL. The team made multiple splashes in free agency, including the addition of Ndamukong Suh to the defensive front and Marcus Peters and Aqib Talib to the secondary. Suh’s presence alongside Donald up front makes this defensive line arguably the most feared in the league.
Per Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk, Donald’s base salary for the next two seasons is fully guaranteed with no offset. Over the two years after that, his combined base salary totaling nearly $37 million is guaranteed for injury and fully guaranteed at the start of the 2019 and 2020 league years respectively. Donald will also earn a $5 million roster bonus if he’s still with the Rams in each of the final three years of the deal.
The news ends a long and protracted holdout that saw Donald miss the entirety of the preseason. That means it’ll probably be a few regular season games before he’s fully up to speed with the nuances of the defense. But there’s not much doubt that the Rams are not only a favorite to win the NFC West but to also make its first Super Bowl appearance since the “Greatest Show on Turf” days.
