LOS ANGELES -- In the salary-cap world, 20 months is an eternity.
That's the amount of time that has passed since the NFL's highest-paid defensive player, Denver Broncos outside linebacker Von Miller, signed on the dotted line. It's enough time for Miller's contract to almost be considered obsolete as a potential comparison for Los Angeles Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald, the man who is expected to eventually surpass Miller with his own extension.
Since Miller's deal, the salary cap has jumped from $155.27 million to $167 million to $177.2 million. When he signed it, Miller was the NFL's 14th-highest-paid player. Now, heading into the 2018 season, he ranks 19th in terms of average salary.
This offseason alone, we have seen five quarterbacks -- Kirk Cousins, Jimmy Garoppolo, Drew Brees, Alex Smith and Sam Bradford -- sign contracts worth more than Miller's. Two others -- Matt Ryan and Aaron Rodgers -- will soon agree to deals that reset the market altogether.
When it comes to Donald, the most relevant question isn't necessarily how his contract should compare to Miller's; it's how many quarterbacks should rank ahead of him.
The average per year (APY) of the 18 quarterbacks ahead of Miller currently sits from $28 million down to $19.25 million for 2018. If Donald signs his extension this offseason -- he's heading into the final year of his rookie contract, but the Rams and Donald's agents have set a timeline for negotiations -- his average salary will sit somewhere between those figures.
But where, exactly?
For comparison's sake, we identified the last three highest-paid defensive players and looked at how many offensive players were still earning more once they signed. Information was provided by Jason Fitzgerald of OverTheCap.com.
LB Von Miller
Deal: 6 years, $19.08M APY; $70M guaranteed
Signed: July 15, 2016
Richer players: 13. QB Andrew Luck ($24.59M), QB Aaron Rodgers ($22.2M), QB Joe Flacco ($22.1M), QB Russell Wilson ($21.9M), QB Ben Roethlisberger ($21.85M), QB Eli Manning ($21M), QB Philip Rivers ($20.81M), QB Cam Newton ($20.76M), QB Matt Ryan ($20.75M), QB Tom Brady ($20.5M), QB Drew Brees ($20M), QB Kirk Cousins ($19.95M), QB Ryan Tannehill ($19.25M).
DT Ndamukong Suh
Deal: 6 years, $19.06M APY; $59.96M guaranteed.
Signed: March 11, 2015
Richer players: 5. Rodgers ($22.2M), Ryan ($20.75M), Flacco ($20.1M), Brees ($20M), QB Peyton Manning ($19.2M).
DE J.J. Watt
Deal: 6 years, $16.67M APY; $51.88M guaranteed.
Signed: Sept. 2, 2014
Richer players: 9. Rodgers ($22.2M), Ryan $20.75M), Flacco ($20.1M), Brees ($20M), QB Peyton Manning ($19.2M), QB Colin Kaepernick ($19M), QB Jay Cutler ($18.1M), QB Tony Romo ($18M), QB Matthew Stafford ($17.67M).
Suh was the NFL's sixth-highest-paid player when he signed his contract with the Miami Dolphins, but there's a caveat. Roethlisberger, Newton, Wilson, Rivers and Eli Manning all signed richer extensions within six months of his deal. Most of them -- perhaps all of them -- were anticipated during that time.
If you consider those five, Suh's APY ranked 11th. If you take that into account, the last three highest-paid defensive players ranked, on average, 12th in APY when they signed their contracts. If Donald were to rank 12th today, he'd be averaging between $21 million and $21.85 million on a new extension. It's an inexact science, of course. And obviously guaranteed money is a lot more significant than average salary in these instances.
Donald -- reigning Defensive Player of the Year and three-time first-team All-Pro at age 26 -- is the game's best at his position by a wide margin. Maybe he gets more than the above projection. Maybe he gets less, considering he's set to cost less than $7 million toward this year's salary cap.
But this much seems clear: Being the game's highest-paid defensive player is no longer enough.