In regards to paying a player, isn't there a good ceiling you can look at based on the Franchise Tag over 2-3 years? Basically, tagging a DT first year is 13.94M, second year is 20% increase, so its 16.73M, and then 3rd year is 44% increase over previous year, at 24.09M. Combined, thats 54.76M, or 18.25M/yr. So effectively, if you offer anything over that amount as a team, you're being silly, since even if Donald plays 0 snaps in those 3 seasons, his career is fucked because the Rams own his rights. They have all the leverage here.
Personally, I'd give him a 19M/yr contract over 5 years, and just guarantee 70M. It's over the 3 year average for tagging, and he sets the market for the position. And it seems like the Rams went more than that with 20M/yr over 4. So Donald is crazy, since they have all the leverage
I get it, everyone wants that QB money, but as a player you can't push past the boundaries of what a franchise tag would look like over 2 years, or even 3. Sure, paying a non-QB player 24M on their 3rd year is crazy, but it would be better to do that and have all of their leverage in negotiations