There was a time when being a defensive tackle in the National Football League was underpaid and undervalued - but Aaron Donald continues to change that with his latest contract with the Super Bowl champions.
Donald has been the most disruptive defensive player in football since he entered the league in 2014 - and arguably the league’s best player of all.
After dominating for almost a decade, he finally made the summit of pro football in February 2022 when the Rams defeated the Cincinnati Bengals to win Super Bowl LVI at their home SoFi Stadium. All Donald did that night was deliver two sacks, three QB hits and two tackles for loss.
The safest NFL predictions for any season generally include Donald being in the running for the Defensive Player Of The Year (DPOY) award (he won it in 2017, 2018 and 2020) and being among the NFL’s sack leaders (he topped the standings in 2018).
There was some speculation immediately after that Super Bowl win that Donald might retire, but a contract restructure to make his deal more lucrative always appeared more likely.
And now the Rams have made sure that their best player will continue to wreck offensive lines for a few more seasons to come. In return he gets paid, and handsomely so.
How much is Aaron Donald’s new contract worth?
So the Rams have effectively restructured Donald’s deal, and it means the contract is now worth an astonishing $95million over the next three seasons. It includes $65million guaranteed in 2022 and 2023.
That makes Aaron Donald the highest-paid non-quarterback in the National Football League. Unbelievable for a player who plies his trade as a DT.
Donald is now almost getting paid like a QB (almost, that market is rising too…) and his $31.6million APY marks the first time a defensive player has breached that $30million barrier.
NFL highest paid defensive players
Donald continues to redefine pretty much everything about playing DT in the National Football League - now from a financial perspective as well.
The NFL’s highest-paid defenders (average per year, as of June 7, 2022) are as follows:
- 1. Aaron Donald (DT, Los Angeles Rams) - $31.666million
- 2. T.J. Watt (OLB, Pittsburgh Steelers) - $28.002million
- 3. Joey Bosa (OLB, Los Angeles Chargers) - $27million
- 4. Myles Garrett (DE, Cleveland Browns) - $25million
- 5. Maxx Crosby (DE, Las Vegas Raiders) - $23.5million
- 6. Khalil Mack (OLB, Los Angeles Chargers) - $23.5million
- 7. DeForest Buckner (DT, Indianapolis Colts) - $21million
- 8. Leonard Williams (DE, New York Giants) - $21million
- 9. Jaire Alexander (CB, Green Bay Packers) - $21million
- 10. Denzel Ward (CB, Cleveland Browns) - $20.1million
