Aaron Donald remains on a holdout, but do he and the Los Angeles Rams already have an agreement in place? That’s the big question posed by Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk, who wonders whether the good vibes coming from the Rams’ camp are an indication that Donald’s contract has been smoothed out and only the player’s signature is missing at this point.

With so much sudden optimism flowing from the Rams regarding a new contract for defensive tackle Aaron Donald, here’s a fair question: Is the deal already done?

…

Personally, I think (I don’t know, I think) it’s already done.

Florio may have the right inkling. Rams head coach Sean McVay was in such a good mood when talking about the contract extension negotiation between the team and Donald during a recent press conference. McVay even noted that talks have been trending in a “positive direction.”

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For Florio, the Rams could merely be waiting for the right opportunity to make the announcement, as he speculates that the team wants the news of a done deal to gain as much media mileage as possible, and it’s probably going to be after the Labor Day Weekend that the team decides to officially make the statement.

The hope for the Rams is that Aaron Donald will be ready to form a scary pass rushing tandem with new acquisition Ndamukong Suh in the team’s season opener against the Oakland Raiders on Sep. 10.

Last season, Donald recorded 11.0 sacks, 32 tackles, and five forced fumbles in 14 games played on his way to the NFL's Defensive Player of the Year award.