Aaron Donald has made true to his promise to sit out organized team activities with the Rams until he got a new contract, which has prompted members of the team to speak out.
Coach Sean McVay took a diplomatic approach when asked about Donald’s contract, saying both sides are trying to reach a resolution.
“It is something that we want to get resolved,” McVay said, via ESPN.com. “As far as a timetable, don’t really have any dates on that.”
Donald also skipped OTAs last year, along with training camp in the summer as he pushed for a new contract. But McVay said he’s more optimistic about negotiations this year.
“He and I have had good dialogue,” McVay said. “I spoke with him last week. This feels a lot different than last year. Certainly, any time that you have something where the team comes together, to have a player that’s as important as he is here, you would prefer that. But it is voluntary. We understand that, and we have a lot of respect and understanding for what’s going on.”
The Colts drafted running backs Nyheim Hines and Jordan Wilkins but still could use depth.
West has 1,816 rushing yards and 11 rushing touchdowns in his career, having spent time with Cleveland, Tennessee and Baltimore.
The NFL has tolerated something less that absolute competence and performance by employing part-time officials, many of whom otherwise have full-time jobs. The NFL has done that because, quite frankly, it’s far cheaper this way. The cheaper route won’t be an option when millions of dollars will be legally changing hands every week based on the outcome of games.
In the past, a bad beat caused by officials would from time to time create a ruckus, like when former NFL referee Scott Green made a mistake at the end of a Chargers-Steelers game in 2008. With legalized gambling, that ruckus quickly could become a full-blown inquisition. And if enough of those happen, Congress could make the NFL’s worst nightmare come to fruition by creating a federal agency that oversees all American professional sports.