Rams Could Be Sellers At Deadline, Aaron Donald On The Move?
The Los Angeles Rams are focused on their Week 1 matchup against the Seattle Seahawks, but pundits are already looking ahead to Halloween.
There have been doubts about the Rams' start to the season and many expect them to be sellers at the Oct. 31 trade deadline, and it involves floating around their best player: Aaron Donald. ESPN's Dan Graziano wrote the Rams are rebuilding even if "they won't admit it," and are eating $75 million in dead cap space to begin tearing it all down next season.
"Los Angeles might have the youngest team in the league," Graziano wrote. "The Rams' remaining veteran stars — Donald, (Matthew) Stafford and receiver Cooper Kupp — don't seem to fit with the current plan, and if the team is scuffling, it's not hard to imagine (A) one or more of them wanting out and (B) the team deciding it's best to move on and unload even more salary."
Graziano said Donald, who is entering his 10th season with the Rams, could decide that he doesn't want to play for another franchise and finish out his career in Los Angeles. However, if he's not opposed to being shipped to a contender, then Donald could be on the move.
"Donald could be the most exciting NFL trade deadline pickup of all time," Graziano wrote.
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Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio and Peter King discussed the same premise last week, and the latter threw out the hypothetical possibility that the Chiefs trade for Donald to compete for another Super Bowl.
The contingency the two concluded on was that if the Rams trade Donald, they would need at least a first-round draft pick, and the team he was joining would need him to commit beyond just the final few months of the season.
Whether he is traded or not, Donald doesn't owe the Rams anything after his loyalty and commitment to the franchise over the years. If he is OK with being traded, then the team should get a return for him, but if he wants to stay in Los Angeles, the Rams have no right but to keep him.
He's become one of the best defensive players ever and a lifelong face of the franchise.
