by Aaron Donald is a few non-quadrupeds, which is why AriesThe defensive tackle became the first NFL player in history not to throw football to sign a contract worth more than $ 30 million per season. The initial cash flow in the Donald deal, according to several reports, is richer than that of Patrick Machomes and Josh Allen. God bless the Rams accounting office, which will soon resort to hiding cash under the jackets of older relatives en route to Switzerland to avoid the police salary cap.
Donald made money as a generational talent. There is no one who can rush so effectively from multiple locations or manage more dual teams. The Aries can force five offensive lineers and a tight end to bounce off each other and fall like heels in a wrestling ring with just three defenders. They did it quite often during their push to the Super Bowl (see again, if you have the chance, as the Arizona five folded during the Kyler Murray playoffs, where two cardinals boycotted their duties to join the threat of Donald potentially, perhaps rushing the general). The Aries know they can not reach this top again if Donald left.
That’s why what Donald did on the way to the Super Bowl, and in the weeks that followed, was brilliant: He talked about retiring from football. He talked about it quite often. Reports of this first broke within hours before the Super Bowl has started. He informed the Aries, with various warts and nods, that his return meant that he should be treated better than any defensive player in history.
Throughout his career, Donald has shown that there is no one who can lead more double teams or rush as efficiently as he can from multiple locations.
Mark J. Rebilas / USA TODAY Sports
The Aries clearly received the message. Any other player who smells this kind of leverage will have to give up the old football trophies to be Iron Man and securing your heritage and be careful.
When players reach a certain level of mastery, it is almost as if they are becoming synonymous with their home team. It is like a more complicated and, in a way, less satisfying marriage. It becomes a relationship of constant expectation. Of the ungrateful life-giver. Any superstar who stays in a city for about a decade is taken for granted, but is synonymously guilty of violating what is left of his physical health and available headspace. In the process, they are supposed to act in a way that facilitates the success of the team by getting less. Think about how late these settings are.
Exchange is supposed to be a kind of eternal love. Some ingrained position as a franchise legend and, of course, a quick run to the Pro Football Hall of Fame and a full seat in a broadcast booth somewhere.
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The real coolness in Donald’s approach is the recognition that he was already there. Ninety-eight dismissals for a defensive tackle, three Defensive Player of the Year awards, more than 225 general strikes and a place on the Associated Press All-Pro first team are for sure. enough. He did not need another Super Bowl ring, another All-Pro nod or another moment of brilliance that would break the teleporter. The Aries needed him, they needed his time, they needed his efforts, all his available thoughts and actions much more than Donald needed the Aries. In a true Zen moment, he agreed to leave. In a moment of real fear, the Rams shook the place upside down for cash and faced their defensive tackle with the warmth and generosity of a Domino delivery on 20/4.
All I needed was to realize everything I really needed.
Although Donald’s leverage is not for everyone, at the moment he has to pull the neurons of the common sense of Derrick Henry, Cooper Kupp, Trent Williams, George Kittle, Travis Kelce, Justin Tucker and any of the dozens of non- four-legged players in the NFL who are truly irreplaceable in their place. We used to only see passers-by this way, but as our understanding of the NFL grows and our willingness to consume detailed game movies (other than the GamePass disaster), we learn how special and important certain players are. Few of the people we mentioned will see their case as a significant improvement over virtually all seasons by facing more years, except perhaps Kittle, who is relatively young. All of them could probably endure every year and take advantage of the despair of their franchise, completing the difficult landing that is the post-football life.
In recent seasons we have also learned, somewhat, that the wage ceiling has taken on a certain myth over the years, as this precautionary cloud has prevented the franchise from creating a subgroup. The truth is that homeowners can almost always make it work if they are willing to spend it. The truth is that some players do not yet understand how quickly they could send a billionaire sprint to their checkbook if given the chance. Congratulations to Donald for proving it once again.
He is not the first person to use retirement as a focal point in the negotiations, but he is perhaps the most skilful. The indifference with which he approached the end proved to make the end much more lucrative.
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