With a record deal now his, Donald heard from his NFL brethren, heaping their praise on the All-Pro.
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The deal is worth $135 million, including $87 million guaranteed, a source told ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
It’s the richest defensive deal in NFL history and could keep Donald with the Rams for the next seven years, through the 2024 season.
Donald, who has held out of training camp this season, will be ready for the team’s Monday night opener against the Oakland Raiders on Sept. 10, according to Schefter.
A first-round pick in 2014, Donald was entering the final year of his rookie contract and scheduled to earn $6.9 million this season.
ESPN Stats & Information
Donald, a three-time All-Pro, four-time Pro Bowl selection and 2014 Defensive Rookie of the Year, has 39 career sacks and nine forced fumbles.
Donald’s extension has been a work in progress dating to 2017, as he held out for a contract that would make him the highest-paid defensive player, if not among the highest-paid players in the league.
Negotiations began after the Rams’ 4-12 2016 season, in which Donald — then a third-year pro — finished with 8 sacks, 5 deflected passes and 2 forced fumbles. Donald did not attend the voluntary offseason program but reported to mandatory minicamp to avoid fines. He then held out of training camp and reported to the team’s practice facility on the eve of the 2017 season opener, without a new contract in place. He was activated in Week 2.
Donald’s absence through training camp hardly affected his play, as he went on to finish his fourth season with 11 sacks and five forced fumbles in 14 games and was named the NFL Defensive Player of the Year as the Rams clinched the NFC West and made their first playoff appearance since 2004.
Donald then resumed his holdout pattern as the Rams entered the offseason. He did not attend organized team activities and did not report to mandatory minicamp.
SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Not long after the New England Patriots used a second-round selection in the 2014 NFL draft on him, quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo was walking around one of the NFL’s rookie-focused events.
Garoppolo made the rounds to various displays set up by businesses who could one day want him to endorse their products. He stopped in the Under Armour and Adidas sections before coming to another room with an unmistakable emblem and an imaginary velvet rope.
Inside the Nike room was a section solely dedicated to their most famous brand, the one belonging to Michael Jordan and the logo that’s instantly recognized as his.
“They weren’t letting anyone back there,” Garoppolo said. “I was like ‘How do you get back there?’ The one guy was like, ‘It’s a tough group to get into’ and was kind of giving me a hard time and joking about it.”
The moment confirmed something Garoppolo already knew: When his time came, he wanted to be a part of Jordan brand. Landing an endorsement with Jordan was, in fact, one of the first non-football related goals Garoppolo had when he entered the league. Now, more than four years later, it’s a reality, as the San Francisco 49ers QB signed with the eponymous brand over the summer.
“Since I got in the league, it was one of my dreams to be with Jordan and it came true,” Garoppolo said.
Jimmy Garoppolo sports a pair of Jordan 11s while practicing with the 49ers this summer. Nick Wagoner/ESPN
Garoppolo’s affinity for Jordan’s brand began long ago with Jordan the player.
Growing up in Arlington Heights, Illinois, a suburb about 25 miles northwest of Chicago, Garoppolo couldn’t help but take part in the Jordan-mania that swept the city through the better part of the 1990s. He went to his first Bulls game when he was about 3 and though he doesn’t remember attending, he has a photo as a reminder.
The Garoppolo family basement doubled as a shrine to their favorite Chicago teams: the Bulls, baseball’s White Sox and the NFL’s Bears. Jordan was well-represented in multiple forms of memorabilia (one of his brothers owned the obligatory “Wings” poster), including 1998 championship hats featuring all six trophies that each member of the family wore proudly.
“If you looked at our house, you’d be like ‘These guys are the biggest Chicago fans ever,'” Garoppolo said, laughing. “It was excessive.”
Although he was born in 1991 and too young to remember much of Jordan’s early championship runs, many of Garoppolo’s earliest childhood sports memories are Jordan-centric. He counts Jordan’s game and 1998 Finals-winning jumper over Utah forward Bryon Russell as his favorite Jordan moment and cites Jordan’s flu game as another.
“Ever since I was a little kid, he’s been my favorite athlete,” Garoppolo said. “It’s pretty cool to be part of his brand now.”
While Jordan’s career was mostly over by the time Garoppolo was old enough to grasp its greatness, Garoppolo was able to re-live many of the best moments, whether through the YouTube rabbit hole or a trip with his grandparents to see “Michael Jordan to the Max” when it was released in IMAX in 2000.
As he grew older and became more involved in playing sports at higher levels, Garoppolo’s appreciation for Jordan deepened beyond his feats on the court and into how he handled his business away from it. As a burgeoning football player at Rolling Meadows High, Garoppolo began to get some acclaim for his play as a junior.
Along with that success, Garoppolo found himself facing cameras and voice recorders on a regular basis. By his own account, Garoppolo “sucked” at interviews. So his father Tony pointed him in the direction of Jordan, eschewing the YouTube dunk highlights in favor of Jordan press conferences.
“My dad told me, ‘Jordan always takes a second, thinks about the question and then responds, try doing that,'” Garoppolo said. “And he would show me things like that and it was just, he was very, very smooth with everything he did.”
While Garoppolo has not yet met Jordan, he has spent time in his presence. When one of his older brothers played one of Jordan’s sons in basketball, Garoppolo remembers how Jordan walking into the gym altered the entire atmosphere.
“He just had a way, an aura about him that just stood out,” Garoppolo said.
While there was no shortage of Jordan merchandise in the Garoppolo house, shoes were rarely part of the equation. With four boys to buy for and the high cost of Jordans, Garoppolo said he only owned the one pair his uncle bought for him when he was in elementary school.
Now that Garoppolo is part of the Jordan family (and signed one of the most lucrative contracts in NFL history in February), his collection is quickly growing. He counts the Jordan 3’s as his favorite pair so far with the 11’s not far behind.
Should Garoppolo need some guidance on getting up to speed, there are no shortage of experts in the Niners locker room. Wide receiver Marquise Goodwin is one of the team’s biggest collectors, with an extensive stockpile of Jordans. He’s already offered Garoppolo advice on which shoes work and which ones don’t.
“I think he’s got a lot of swag but when it comes to Jordans, he’s not very knowledgeable about these J’s so I have got to put him on game,” Goodwin said. “He needs to get all the exclusives. You cannot be wearing team J’s out here. It’s got to be all retros. As long as it says retro in front of that number then you’re good.”
Since he arrived in the Bay Area in October of last year, Garoppolo has been reticent to talk about anything aside from football. In a recent interview, it was clear that the deal with Jordan was big enough to him to make an exception.
Still, Garoppolo said there are no current plans to take part in any sort of major marketing campaign or to suddenly approach Peyton Manning-level pitch man status. As he’s maintained all along, Garoppolo wants to prove himself further before he worries too much about building his own brand.
“[Jordan] is a credit to the idea that you have to live a different lifestyle [to be great],” Garoppolo said. “You’re sacrificing things in order to put in time to your profession. Whether you’re used to it or not, that’s just what it is as an athlete.”
Which is why, when Garoppolo looks at his feet and sees that famous Jumpman insignia, he doesn’t see validation that he’s arrived. He sees just how far he still has to go.
CINCINNATI — Carlos Dunlap calls Geno Atkins the “silent assassin.” Local reporters might call Atkins evasive.
The only thing more clear than the power of Atkins’ bull rush is that he prefers to do his talking on the field.
And so far, that has worked out for him just fine. Atkins, 30, inked a four-year, $65 million contract on Tuesday that could keep him in Cincinnati until he retires, which he said was more important to him than testing the market.
If Atkins had hit free agency, teams would have been salivating to pick up the defensive tackle, who is second in franchise history with 61 sacks. Dunlap, who himself signed a new three-year, $45 million deal on Tuesday, leads Cincinnati with 64.5 sacks.
“I can’t name too many top-end rushers who have a dominant presence like Geno inside,” Dunlap said. “He don’t say a lot as you know, but he plays big. He lets that speak for himself.”
Atkins has made a career out of embarrassing offensive linemen, even in the preseason. Last Sunday, Atkins bestowed that honor on Buffalo Bills guard Vladimir Ducasse, gaining enough leverage to lift him off his feet and push him into quarterback Josh Allen. The 6-foot-1, 300-pound Atkins is 4 inches shorter and 30 pounds lighter than Ducasse.
“I don’t feel bad because I’m trying to do my job and they’re trying to do their job. So it is what it is,” Atkins said.
For as little as Atkins has to say in public, his competitors have even less to say to him.
“The only thing I kind of hear, more so it’s like, ‘Damn, why you bullin’?’” Atkins said. “Or, ‘Not the bull again,’ or stuff like that. That’s like my No. 1 thing, the bull rush.”
The tandem of Atkins and Dunlap promised one thing when they signed their new deals: They want to get to a Super Bowl. It’s one of many common goals they have despite being so different.
Dunlap is as jovial and chatty and as Atkins is silent. When they held a joint news conference to announce their new deals, Dunlap jokingly pushed all the recorders toward Atkins.
Atkins might go weeks without posting to his social media accounts, fittingly named @genosacks. But he does share small insights into his life, whether it’s a photo of his dog, a video of himself in robes at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, or an announcement that he’ll be a father this year.
Geno Atkins, right, rarely speaks to the media, preferring to allow his dominant play to do his talking. Kareem Elgazzar/The Cincinnati Enquirer via USA TODAY NETWORK
“The blessing was my wife being pregnant,” he said. “Signing the contract is icing on the cake. Being blessed to have a boy or a girl is amazing.”
Atkins is thoughtful and insightful when he wants to be, but when asked to give a reason as to why he doesn’t speak, he said others had better stories than him.
“I’m not that interesting to talk to,” he said on Wednesday.
To his teammates, that’s just Geno being Geno. To opposing linemen, the son of former NFL player Gene Atkins is a one-man wrecking ball whose specialty is the bull rush.
“I just think really a bull rush is more so my will against your will, honestly,” he said.
He added: “I do other stuff, but the bull just helps solidify and gets them thinking a little bit — am I going to hit them with power or speed? It gets them guessing a little bit.”
That drive to be the best still pushes Atkins as much at 30 as it did at 22. Atkins knows it would be a feather in another player’s cap to catch him sleeping.
“Honestly, I go out there on Sundays and you’ve got the next guy trying to kick your ass, so I’ve got to bring my A-game because I go there half-stepping, that’s a knock on somebody, being like, ‘I just got the best of Geno Atkins,’” he said. “I try to go out there and perform the best. You aren’t going to win every time, but honestly, I try to go out and do my best.”
Atkins said he hasn’t thought about the possibility of one day entering the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
“You try to start looking into the future, that’s it. You are just looking. I just try to do my job and do it good,” he said.
Just don’t necessarily expect him to give a speech if he gets into Canton one day.
ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Denver Broncos quarterback Paxton Lynch said Tuesday his future is on his mind and he’s trying to hang on to his roster spot after falling to No. 3 on the depth chart headed into Thursday’s preseason finale against the Arizona Cardinals.
Lynch, whom the Broncos traded up to select in the first round of the 2016 draft (26th overall), had lost back-to-back training camp battles with Trevor Siemian in the previous two summers. And this time around he has slid to No. 3 on the depth chart, behind Case Keenum and Chad Kelly, as the Broncos approach Saturday’s deadline to reduce rosters from 90 to 53 players.
“Obviously you think about it, you’re not happy about it, but I’ve got to do what I’ve got to do with the hand that’s been dealt to me,” Lynch said. “And that’s what I’m doing, I’m working my tail off.”
Broncos quarterback Paxton Lynch said he’s doing what he can to save his roster spot after falling to No. 3 on the depth chart. Dustin Bradford/Getty Images
Broncos president of football operations/general manager John Elway has often professed his preference to use just two roster spots at quarterback. However, Siemian played well enough in the preseason in 2015 for the Broncos to keep him as a rookie No. 3 behind Peyton Manning and Brock Osweiler.
The Broncos also kept three quarterbacks, after Siemian was injured, on the roster for much of last season.
Also, neither Elway nor coach Vance Joseph has ruled out bringing in a veteran quarterback as Keenum’s backup. Elway said when training camp opened he would consider it if neither Kelly nor Lynch showed he was ready. However, Kelly has played so well in the preseason the Broncos would likely now, at minimum, have to keep him as the No. 3 if they did sign another veteran passer because the seventh-round pick, who missed his rookie year in 2017 on injured reserve, might not clear waivers if they tried to get him to the practice squad.
For his part Lynch said he is trying to simply focus on Thursday’s game.
“I’m not worried about anything past the next day, which is (Wednesday), we come out here and have our practice and then travel to Arizona and then have our meetings there,” Lynch said. “That’s what I’m focused on. I’m focused on going out and playing well on Thursday.”
Kelly is 28-of-41 passing in three preseason games (68.3 percent) for 340 yards to go with three touchdowns and an interception. Lynch has struggled much of the time in his three outings — two of those against largely third-string defenses with largely the Broncos’ third-teamers in the formation around him — and is 14-of-29 passing (48.3 percent) for 102 yards to go with one interception.
Lynch was asked after Tuesday’s practice if he would like to remain with the Broncos, even if it meant he was the team’s No. 3.
“Absolutely, I love it here, I’ve said that since day one, I wanted to be the guy here,” Lynch said. “I’ve gone through some things, I’ve struggled, haven’t played well at times and at times I have played well. I’ve just got to find that consistency, constantly playing well and I know I can get there.”
Joseph said this week Kelly would play at least a half Thursday against the Cardinals and that Lynch would finish out the game.
Lynch also addressed what was a bit of a social media frenzy from this past weekend when he posted a photo of a “For Sale” sign posted in a yard. Many presumed it was a sign in front of Lynch’s house and an indication of what he thought of his future.
However, Lynch said his girlfriend is a realtor and he took the picture because her name was on the sign.
“I was proud of her, I posted a picture of it,” Lynch said. ” … I didn’t know about (the attention) until my parents had called me and said something about it — ‘Did you post a picture of a “For Sale” sign or something like that’ and I said ‘Yeah I did’ and I seen all these articles start popping up.”
