12 mil a year is not a max contract. I believe a max deal would be about 13.5 mil. IMO it would be slight overpay for Hayward. Hayward is a legit starter in the league and should be paid about 9-10 mil a year. Also so what if we overpay him by about 3 mil a year? We have cap room to burn.
That's a horrible attitude, and one I'm sure DL doesn't share. 3 mill/year is the difference between being able to make a free agent a 12 mill/year offer and a 15 mill/year offer. 3 mill/year can also allow you to absorb someone else's bad contract, picking up a pick in the process. Etc.