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NFL

Rams DT Donald not at voluntary workouts

THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. — So much is different about the Los Angeles Rams these days. They’re coming off their first playoff appearance in 13 years, with a star-studded roster that now rivals any in the NFL, and the expectations are greater than they have been in more than a decade. The city is buzzing, the players are excited.

But one key similarity remains: Aaron Donald is absent.

Donald didn’t attend the start of the Rams’ offseason program on Monday. The reigning NFL Defensive Player of the Year was absent for most of last year’s program and is still in search of a new contract, one that would make him one of the game’s highest-paid players. Donald is headed into the final year of his rookie contract, with no interest in showing up without a more lucrative deal.

After his team’s first workout, Rams coach Sean McVay said they are “proactive towards finding a solution to make sure that everybody feels good about that.”

Aaron Donald is set to make $6.89 million in the fifth year of his rookie contract. George Gojkovich/Getty Images

“What I think we feel good about is the dialogue that has existed,” McVay added. “We totally understand some of the other things that are going on with regards to wanting to get that deal. With respect to Aaron, we feel really good about where we’re at with that dialogue. This is a voluntary offseason program. You know he’s a guy that’s going to work hard on his off time, and that’s kind of where we’re at. We feel good about everything that’s going on with that.”

Donald, who remains in Pittsburgh, is set to make $6.89 million in what constitutes the fifth-year option of his rookie contract. The Rams can then keep him for up to three additional years with the franchise tag, but they have expressed a desire to sign Donald long term dating back to last year’s scouting combine.

At this year’s combine, Rams general manager Les Snead said he and Donald’s CAA-based representatives “came up with a nice timeline” for negotiations, a process that might pick up after the draft. The Rams have since taken up almost all of their cap space by adding cornerback Aqib Talib, interior lineman Ndamukong Suh and wide receiver Brandin Cooks. But Snead recently said that “none of it affects Aaron.”

Signing Donald to a long-term deal might actually give the Rams more space under this year’s salary cap, because the signing bonus is prorated for the life of the contract and would allow them to lower his 2018 base salary.

The Rams and Donald might be at a better place now, which could be evidenced by their exclusive, behind-the-scenes access to Donald’s hometown for their “Behind The Grind” documentary series. Donald likes playing for McVay and is excited about the direction of the team. The Rams, meanwhile, would be more willing to pay Donald now because he’s closer to free agency.

“I think the best thing that you have going is now there’s been a year of working together,” McVay said. “There’s a rapport; there’s a relationship that’s been established, and we’re in constant dialogue and communication. When this happened last year, we weren’t really involved in much communication between myself and Aaron. I think you feel good about at least knowing where he’s at.”

Locking Donald up may require at least $80 million guaranteed and an average yearly salary of more than $20 million.

Donald, Cooks and safety Lamarcus Joyner, who signed his franchise tag prior to Monday’s workout, can all be unrestricted free agents next offseason. The Rams would ideally sign all of them to long-term deals, though they face a July 16 deadline with Joyner.

Next year, their star running back, Todd Gurley, will be on the last year of his rookie contract, and the Rams might have to seriously consider a long-term deal for him, too. Gurley, represented by Jay-Z’s Roc Nation, is now in the same situation Donald was in last year. But he didn’t give much thought to staying away from the team.

Asked if he would like to start contract negotiations now, Gurley smiled wide.

“I think anyone would love to talk about contract situations.”

Offseason workouts are voluntary under the collective bargaining agreement. Players can be fined only for skipping the mandatory veteran minicamp, which for the Rams takes place June 12-14. Donald showed up to last year’s minicamp, but didn’t participate in any of the team activities. He then skipped all of training camp and the preseason schedule, staying away from the team until the day before the season opener.

Donald now has a much better feel for defensive coordinator Wade Phillips’ 3-4 scheme, but his absence keeps the team from figuring out how Donald, Suh and Michael Brockers will work together on the same defensive line.

“I mean, we’ve dealt with it before, and we also know that it’s a business,” Brockers said. “You have the best defensive tackle in the league right now going through contract situations. I’ll kind of just leave it at that. I don’t really want to talk about if he’s here, if he’s not here. We obviously know that he’s putting in the work to get back in shape.”

NFL

Foster to miss 49ers activities as case plays out

SANTA CLARA, Calif. — When the San Francisco 49ers begin their offseason program Monday morning, linebacker Reuben Foster will not be joining them.

The 49ers released a statement attributed to chief executive officer Jed York, general manager John Lynch and coach Kyle Shanahan on Sunday night saying that Foster will not be participating in team activities as he goes through the legal process stemming from his Feb. 11 arrest.

“Reuben Foster will not participate in team activities as he is tending to his legal matters,” the team said in the statement. “As previously stated, his future with the team will be determined by the information revealed during the legal process.”

The Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office announced last Thursday that it was charging Foster with felony counts of domestic violence with an allegation that he inflicted great bodily injury, forcefully attempting to prevent a victim from reporting a crime and possession of an assault weapon. He also faces a misdemeanor charge for possession of a large-capacity weapon magazine.

Those charges were the result of a Feb. 11 disturbance call to a residence in Los Gatos. In a release from the district attorney’s office last week, officials said Foster, 24, physically attacked his live-in girlfriend, leaving her bruised and with a ruptured eardrum. The report went on to say Foster dragged her by her hair, physically threw her out of the house and punched her in the head eight to 10 times.

Foster was arraigned last week and ordered to have no contact with the woman involved in the case while remaining free on $75,000 bond. A plea hearing was scheduled for April 30.

The Niners are set to begin their offseason program Monday along with all other NFL teams that didn’t hire new head coaches. The voluntary workouts are focused on strength and conditioning for the first two weeks followed by three weeks of on-field work and individual drill instruction and capped off with 10 organized team activities.

Foster has spent time this offseason working out at the Niners’ facility on his own but will not be joining the rest of his teammates as they start the offseason program.

After Foster was charged last week, the Niners issued a statement saying they intended to follow the matter and noted that Foster “is aware that his place in our organization is under great scrutiny and will depend on what is learned through the legal process.”

In addition to the aforementioned felony charges in California, Foster is also facing second-degree marijuana possession charges in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, after an arrest there on Jan. 12. His next hearing for that is scheduled for May 2.

Either case could lead to discipline from the NFL, up to and including suspension. Foster’s cases will be reviewed under the league’s policies on substance abuse and personal conduct.

The league, in a statement released last week, said it was going to “continue to monitor all developments in this matter which is under review of the personal conduct policy.”

NFL

Dak: 'Talented' Dez will be missed by Dallas

DALLAS — Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott has exchanged text messages with Dez Bryant since the wide receiver’s release from the franchise on Friday.

“It’s sad news. That’s a brother to me,” Prescott said from a women’s clinic he was hosting at Episcopal Parish School in Dallas. “Put the football stuff behind you, and what he meant to me as a person, what he meant to me as a brother, it’s tough to see him go. It shows you it’s a business. All it does is motivate me and puts all this in perspective. Just got to go to work.”

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Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones met with Bryant for roughly 20 minutes on Friday, as Jones made the move without offering Bryant a pay cut. The Cowboys saved $8.5 million against the salary cap by cutting Bryant, the franchise’s all-time leader in touchdown receptions.

Prescott was at The Star working out with teammates when the news came that Bryant had been released.

“Dez is going to be a hard guy to replace,” Prescott said. “He’s a talented guy, so he’ll be missed.”

In an interview with NFL Network, Bryant insinuated that coaches played a part in his release as well as players he labeled as “Garrett guys” and captains.

Prescott was one of the captains last season, along with Jason Witten, Sean Lee, Tyrone Crawford, Dan Bailey and Orlando Scandrick, who was released earlier in the offseason.

“I mean, I’m sure he’s hearing stuff, and I’m sure he’s getting it from a lot of different ways, so I mean, I’m not going to finger-point at anybody,” Prescott said. “I’m not going to get upset for who he’s pointing at or who he thinks did this. So I mean, as I said, it’s a business, and it’s part of it.”

Prescott said he heard the speculation that Bryant could be released throughout the offseason, but “I can’t say that I actually thought that it would fully happen.”

The Cowboys made a serious run at signing Sammy Watkins at the opening of free agency, which would have ended Bryant’s tenure with the team in mid-March. Eventually, they signed Allen Hurns and Deonte Thompson. They have visited with and worked out almost all of the top receivers in the draft, including Calvin Ridley, D.J. Moore, Courtland Sutton and James Washington.

Bryant’s production decreased since he signed a five-year, $70 million contract in 2015. He battled through foot and knee injuries and was hurt by ineffective quarterback play in 2015 after Tony Romo was hurt. Prescott and Bryant finished strong to close the 2016 season (six of Bryant’s eight touchdowns came in the second half of the season), but they never got on the same page in 2017.

Bryant finished with 69 catches for 839 yards and six scores but did not have a 100-yard game for the first time since 2011.

“He was a great player,” Prescott said. “He did a lot of great things for us, obviously. I mean, he was a guy in man-to-man [coverage] you go to. So I mean, at this point we’ve got to figure that out with the guys we got, and I’m sure we’re going to go after guys in the draft and free agency, who knows? All I can do is continue to get better at my job and just do the best I can.”

NFL

Amendola: Patriots' offer wasn't close to others

BOSTON — Wide receiver Danny Amendola detailed the factors that led him to leave the New England Patriots for the Miami Dolphins as a free agent this offseason, saying that after three years of taking a pay cut the team’s offer fell significantly short compared to others he had received.

“I came in with an open mind. I understand Bill [Belichick] runs a tight ship, and he hasn’t been known to pay his players, really. I understood that I gave money back to him so I could play for him and play for my teammates and fulfill my side of the contract, and at the end of the day, I had faith that he was going to give me an opportunity to stay,” Amendola told ESPN.

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“When free agency broke, I came to the realization that he wasn’t going to really come close to any of the other offers I had,” he said. “I had to make a decision for my family and go down to Miami and continue my career there.”

Amendola, who signed a two-year, $12 million deal with the Dolphins that included $8.25 million in bonuses and guarantees, was in New England on Friday as the featured guest at the American Cancer Society’s “Relay for Life” event at Merrimack College in North Andover, Massachusetts, and ESPN rode with him to the event.

Speaking to the crowd at the event, Amendola praised Belichick as the “best coach to ever coach the game.” In his interview with ESPN, Amendola also discussed how it was challenging to play for Belichick at times.

“It’s not easy, that’s for sure. He’s an a–h— sometimes. There were a lot of things I didn’t like about playing for him, but I must say, the things I didn’t like were all in regards to getting the team better, and I respected him,” he said. “I didn’t like practicing in the snow, I didn’t like practicing in the rain, but that was going to make us a better football team and that was going to make me a better football player. It wasn’t easy, and he’d be the first to admit, at the [Super Bowl] ring ceremony, that it wasn’t easy playing for him. The silver lining was that we were at the ring ceremony.”

Part of the Patriots’ success under Belichick in the salary-cap era has been maintaining financial discipline and building a strong middle class on the roster, and that business side of the game is something Amendola said he learned early in his career when he was cut by two different teams before playing in his first career game.

Meanwhile, Amendola said the Patriots’ loss to the Eagles in Super Bowl LII still stings, and it hurt to see cornerback Malcolm Butler benched on defense for the game.

“I have my thoughts about it because I was out there putting my blood, sweat and tears out on the field that night, and one of our best players wasn’t on the field,” he said. “To tell you the truth, I don’t know why. I did ask, but I didn’t get any answers. I can’t make decisions like that, so I don’t necessarily worry about it, but I know Malcolm is a great player and he could have helped us win. For whatever reason, he wasn’t out there. He’s going to play more football in his career, and he’s going to be a great player for a long time.”

Asked if he sensed the Butler decision hurt his Patriots teammates, Amendola said, “Yeah, I did, honestly. Nobody really got an explanation for it. He’s a brother of ours. He was a brother of ours that year. And I hate to see a guy who worked so hard throughout the season not get a chance to play in the biggest game of the year and really get no explanation for it. With that said, I don’t know how the business aspect went into that decision. I don’t know how the personal aspect went into that decision between him and Bill. But as a friend, I would have loved to see him on the field that day.”

Saying he will always call Boston home, Amendola briefly seemed to get choked up when speaking of his friendship with Patriots receiver Julian Edelman while thanking him for raising his level of play.

Amendola, who referred to Patriots owner Robert Kraft as “a friend,” also spoke with excitement about joining the Dolphins, saying he has spent time at the team’s facility in advance of the voluntary offseason program so he can get to know some of his new teammates better. Amendola has already caught passes from quarterbacks Ryan Tannehill and Brock Osweiler, along with many of the team’s skill-position players, at a different location.

Dolphins coach Adam Gase has talked about changing the culture in Miami, and signing the 32-year-old Amendola — who said he envisions the window is closing on his career in the next three or four years — has been part of that approach.

“I’m not the oldest guy on the team, but I’ve been around for a while, and I know what it takes to win a championship, I know what it takes to have a successful atmosphere,” Amendola said. “I’m really excited just to share my knowledge in that respect, be a good teammate, whatever they ask me to do, and trying to catch as many balls as possible. … It’s a great opportunity to make new friendships and explore other football avenues. I’m really excited to continue to play.”

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