Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald is arguably the best defensive player in football, but he's the 19th-highest paid defensive tackle for the 2018 season, which is why Donald didn't report for OTAs on Monday as he prepares for yet another contract standoff. On Monday, one of his new teammates, cornerback Marcus Peters, offered his thoughts on the Donald situation and gave the Rams some pretty blunt advice.

"Pay the man," he said Monday, per NFL.com. "I mean, s---. I mean, you win the MVP, man. Come on now."

Fair point, though it's worth noting that Suh has never won MVP, though he's certainly played at an MVP level. Since entering the league in 2014, Donald has racked up 148 solo tackles and 39 sacks even though he plays a position that isn't known for being conducive to high sack totals. He's made the Pro Bowl in all four of his seasons, named First Team All-Pro three times, and is coming off a Defensive Player of the Year campaign. He was Pro Football Focus' highest-graded interior defender this past season. 

But Donald is getting paid only $6,892,000 in total cash this season, according to Spotrac. For the sake of comparison, Panthers defensive tackle Kawann Short's 2018 salary of $19 million leads all defensive tackles. That's why Donald isn't at OTAs -- again.

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There's no reason for Rams fans to be worried, though. As our Jason La Canfora explained earlier on Monday, the deal will get done before the season. It's just a matter of when:

As for Donald, if anything he should have forced the Rams' hand more a year ago. Curtailing his holdout just before the season began was a risky maneuver at best and didn't really accomplish much. Had he sat out into October I can't help but wonder if he would already have his mega deal. But you would have to be nuts to think there is any chance he reports to training camp -- much less shows up for fake practices in the spring -- still absent landing the biggest contract in NFL history for a defensive player. He's going to get paid like an elite quarterback and it would be malpractice on his and his agent's part to provide any services that could cause an injury at this point.

That deal just simply has to get done before Week 1, it will get done before Week 1 and to imply that Donald's absence from spring work is any kind of a story whatsoever is ridiculous. This is how the dance is done. He knows it. The Rams get it. Nothing to see here.

But as La Canfora noted, don't expect Donald to show up before he signs the deal. Last year, Donald didn't report to the team until the eve of the regular season and as a result, missed Week 1. Even Rams coach Sean McVay knows he won't see his star defensive tackle until a deal gets done.

When the Rams do finally give Donald the contract he's seeking, their new-look defense will finally be complete. Most notably, they've added defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh, and cornerbacks Peters and Aqib Talib to a defense that already finished sixth in DVOA last year.