LOS ANGELES —All-Pro defensive tackle Aaron Donald is getting a big raise to stay with the Los Angeles Rams under a reworked contract through 2024.
The Super Bowl champion Rams announced Donald’s return Monday. The team didn’t disclose terms of the new deal, but the NFL Network reported Donald is getting a $40 million raise that will make him the highest-paid defensive player in the league.
Donald was already under contract for the next three seasons, but he openly contemplated retirement after he won his first ring with the Rams in February.
Instead, the seven-time All-Pro will be back to torment offenses at the heart of Los Angeles’ defense.
Donald is widely considered the most dominant defensive player in the sport, and he demonstrated his power yet again last season. He capped four excellent postseason games by making the final defensive play to stop the final drive by the Rams’ opponents in both the NFC title game and the Super Bowl.
BROWNS: A 24th woman filed a civil lawsuit Monday alleging sexual misconduct by quarterback Deshaun Watson, who is also awaiting possible discipline from the NFL.
The latest lawsuit was filed in Houston by attorney Tony Buzbee, who is representing all 24 women.
“Lost in the media frenzy surrounding Deshaun Watson is that these are twenty-four strong, courageous women who, despite ridicule, legal shenanigans, and intense media scrutiny, continue to stand firm for what is right,” Buzbee said in a statement.
Watson has been accused by massage therapists of harassing, assaulting or touching them during appointments when he was with the Houston Texans.
The latest lawsuit makes similar allegations as the woman, a massage therapist, accuses Watson of assaulting and harassing her during an August 2020 session in her apartment. The woman alleges that during the massage session, Watson exposed himself and masturbated and “offered no apology or explanation for his conduct.”
The woman has quit being a massage therapist because of what happened to her and now suffers from depression and anxiety, according to the lawsuit.
Rusty Hardin, Watson’s lead attorney, did not immediately reply to a request Monday seeking comment on the latest lawsuit.
49ERS: The 49ers are gathering this week for a mandatory minicamp, but at least one prominent player will be missing from check-in Tuesday in Santa Clara.
Quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo has an excused absence, NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero reported.
Garoppolo has been rehabbing from shoulder surgery he underwent in March, so he may not have been able to participate much in the minicamp anyway.
Then there’s the matter of where he’ll be playing come September, when the NFL season opens.
The 49ers and Garoppolo signaled at the end of last season that he would be traded this offseason. The shoulder surgery, which was expected to keep him from throwing until July, put any trade talks on ice. They’ll warm up again quickly if a starting quarterback somewhere across the NFL is injured in training camp, a possibility the 49ers may be banking on as they hold onto Garoppolo. But if he makes the Week 1 roster, he’ll be due $24.2 million — a steep price for a backup quarterback.
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