- PREMIUM
- HOME
- NFL
Popular Pages
Transactions
Trending Players
AFC East
AFC North
AFC South
NFC East
NFC North
NFC South
- NBA
Popular Pages
Transactions
Trending Players
Southeast
Atlantic
Southwest
Northwest
- MLB
Popular Pages
Transactions
Trending Players
AL West
AL East
NL West
NL East
- NHL
Popular Pages
Transactions
Trending Players
Atlantic
Pacific
- WNBA
Popular Pages
Transactions
Trending Players
Eastern
- EPL
Popular Pages
Transactions
Trending Players
- MLS
Transactions
Trending Players
Eastern
- ATL Atlanta UnitedAtlanta United FC
- MTL MontrealCF Montreal
- CLT CharlotteCharlotte FC
- CHI FireChicago Fire
- CLB Columbus CrewColumbus Crew
- DC UnitedD.C. United
- CIN CincinnatiFC Cincinnati
- MIA Inter MiamiInter Miami FC
- NSH NashvilleNashville SC
- NE RevolutionNew England Revolution
- NYC New York CityNew York City FC
- RBNY Red BullsNew York Red Bulls
- ORL Orlando CityOrlando City
- PHI UnionPhiladelphia Union
- TOR TorontoToronto FC
Western
- ATX AustinAustin FC
- COL RapidsColorado Rapids
- DAL DallasFC Dallas
- HOU DynamoHouston Dynamo
- LA GalaxyLA Galaxy
- LAFC Los AngelesLos Angeles FC
- MIN MinnesotaMinnesota United FC
- POR TimbersPortland Timbers
- RSL Real Salt LakeReal Salt Lake
- SD San Diego FCSan Diego FC
- SJ EarthquakesSan Jose Earthquakes
- SEA SoundersSeattle Sounders FC
- SKC Kansas CitySporting Kansas City
- STL St. Louis CITYSt. Louis CITY SC
- VAN WhitecapsVancouver Whitecaps FC
- NWSL
Popular Pages
Transactions
Trending Players
- ACFC Angel City FCAngel City FC
- BFC Bay FCBay FC
- CHI Chicago Red StarsChicago Red Stars
- HOU Houston DashHouston Dash
- KC Kansas City CurrentKansas City Current
- GFC NJ/NY Gotham FCNJ/NY Gotham FC
- NC North Carolina CourageNorth Carolina Courage
- ORL Orlando PrideOrlando Pride
- POR Portland Thorns FCPortland Thorns FC
- LOU Racing Louisville FCRacing Louisville FC
- SD San Diego Wave FCSan Diego Wave FC
- SEA Seattle Reign FCSeattle Reign FC
- UTA Utah Royals FCUtah Royals FC
- WAS Washington SpiritWashington Spirit
- GOLF
Popular Pages
Trending Players
- TENNIS
ATP
WTA
- RACING
NASCAR CUP
FORMULA 1
- PVF
- OLYMPICS
Breaking Down Aaron Donald's $95M Contract
Aaron Donald’s not only not retiring, he’s now the highest paid non-quarterback in the history of football - and then some.
The 31 year old defensive lineman had the final 3 years, $52.25M remaining on his previous contract almost entirely ripped up. The result is a 3 year, $95M contract through the 2024 season, with guarantee mechanisms in 2023, early March vesting on the 2024 compensation, and two void years for cap purposes.
The Cash Flow
Donald will see $31.5M in 2022, up significantly from the $14.25M he was set to earn this season previously. There’s another $28.5M to be made in 2023, totalling $60M across the first two seasons. In 2024, the contract offers a whopping $35M cash, $5M of which locks in March of 2023, the rest becoming fully guaranteed in March 2024. The $95M over the first three seasons of the contract puts Donald in very rare company:
There are 7 contracts with a 3 year cash flow north of $95M - all of them are quarterbacks.
- Aaron Rodgers: $150.8M
- Deshaun Watson, $138M
- Dak Prescott, $126M
- Matthew Stafford, $120M
- Russell Wilson, $107M
- Derek Carr, $99.9M
- Josh Allen, $95M
Cumulative Cash Flow for Active NFL Contracts
The Average Annual Salary
Not the most useful metric available because of its inconsistencies, but for all intents, Aaron Donald is now a $31.6M per year NFL player. This ranks 12th in the entire NFL, 1st among all non-quarterbacks.
But (and it seems like there’s always a but with these NFL contracts), the $5M roster bonus allocated to 2022 was technically built into his previous contract and carried over to the new deal. However, since we’re treating this as a rip up and start over process (like we did with Aaron Rodgers), it’s $95M over 3 years year at the end of the day.
2022 NFL Average Salary Rankings
The Guarantee Structure
Aaron Donald’s new deal comes with $46.5M fully guaranteed at signing, by way of a $25M signing bonus, a $1.5M 2022 base salary, a $5M 2022 roster bonus, and a $13.5M 2023 roster bonus.
Another $18.5M fully locks in next March, via a $13.5M 2023 base salary, and a $5M roster bonus for 2024. Should he or the Rams cut loose after 2023, it’ll be a 2 year, $65M contract ($5M of which becomes a parting gift, with no offset language).
If he sticks around for 2024, another $30M becomes fully guaranteed in March of 2024, by way of a $10M base salary, and a $20M option bonus. That means every dollar of this $95M contract is either guaranteed at signing, or comes with some form of early vesting.
The Current & Potentially Future Cap Structure
Despite tacking on two void years to help the salary cap portion of this contract to spread out, the Rams will only free up $2.75M of cap space per this new pact ($12.5M of bonus proration carried over from the previous contract).
The deal currently carries cap hits of:
2022: $24M
2023: $38M
2024: $31.1M
2025: $23.3M (void year dead cap)
But this is only the beginning of this conversation. That $38M cap hit for 2023 is likely going to be a problem for the Rams, even if the NFL salary cap pushes up to $230M.
By simply restructuring the $15M roster bonus for 2023 that is already fully guaranteed, converting it to a signing bonus and tacking on yet another void year, things move around quickly.
The 2023 cap hit drops to a manageable $26M figure, but the 2024 figure rises to $34.1M, and maybe more importantly, the voidable dead cap increases to a potential $32.3M (assuming the 2024 option bonus is exercised). In other words, if this restructure (or any really) happens, and Donald finishes out this entire contract, the Rams will be taking on quite a dead cap hit in 2025 when the dust settles.
The Impact of this Contract
The player currently in line to benefit most from Aaron Donald’s massive re-up is Nick Bosa, who was already eyeing a top of the market extension in San Francisco, and now has a whole new benchmark to work from. Deals for Titans’ DL Jeffery Simmons, Broncos LB Bradley Chubb, and Packers LB Rashan Gary, to name a few, should see an uptick in value thanks to where Donald went financially.
But it’s important to keep in mind that many teams will attempt to label this as an anomaly situation, where a unicorn defensive player factored heavily into his team winning a Super Bowl, then threatened to walk off into retirement if his contractual demands weren’t met. This was the perfect scenario, despite Donald being north of 31 years old through all of this.
The player/agent side of the equation won’t see it this way however. Donald’s $31M per year is now a new mountain top that others will soon scale. It’s perfectly possible that Nick Bosa is that player in the coming weeks. No matter, today was an historic day for defensive players.
CATEGORIES
- NBA 93
- NFL 67
- GOLF 55
- NWSL 48
- MLB 27
- NHL 1
AUTHORS
- Michael Ginnitti NFL, MLB
- Keith Smith NBA
- Scott Allen Contributor
- Taylor Vincent NWSL
2025 MLB Offseason Contract Breakdowns
Spotrac details the largest free agent signings and contract extensions across MLB throughout the 2025 offseason. READ MORE
NFL 2025 Roster Bubble Candidates
Spotrac’s annual NFL Roster Bubble report identifies players that have the potential to be released, traded, or retire after the current 2024 season, including notable financial ramifications for each.
NBA Trade Season Unofficially Opens
Early buyers and sellers as the trade season unofficially opens with the majority of the players across the league becoming trade-eligible.
Juan Soto to the Mets
The New York Mets & OF Juan Soto agreed to an historic 15 year, $765 million contract that includes no deferrals & escalators/void cancellations that can raise the deal up to $820M. READ MORE
2025 Free Agency – Offseason Unleashed
Most of the 2025 NWSL Free Agents have been signing with their previous clubs. That has recently changed with the signings of free agents to new clubs. Free Agency has truly began.
TRENDING PLAYERS
- 1 Juan Soto (RF, NYM)
- 2 Garrett Crochet (SP, BOS)
- 3 Jimmy Butler (SF, MIA)
- 4 Kyle Tucker (RF, HOU)
- 5 Jameis Winston (QB, CLE)
TRENDING PAGES
- 1 MLB Free Agents
- 2 NFL Free Agents
- 3 NBA Trade Machine
- 4 MLB Transactions
- 5 NFL Transactions