It’s time to give Mike Rizzo the contract he’s earned. Anything else is negligence.

Chill out. Just a little longer.

Nothing is normal these days. And context matters.

The D.C. trauma du jour is to draw parallels between the Caps’ two dismal seasons after they lost Trotz — their 2018 Stanley Cup-winning coach — and the damage that might hit the Nats if Rizzo, the general manger who won the 2019 World Series, leaves after this season.

Todd Reirden, the ex-assistant who the Caps thought would smoothly replace Trotz, was out-coached (again) in the postseason and may be fired. If so, he’s earned it.

Trotz and Rizzo are not comparable. Trotz was almost fired twice in the Stanley Cup season. Relations were frayed. The bad karma came because owner Ted Leonsis, after the Cup was won, didn’t say, “Let bygones be bygones. We love ya. We’ll match any offer.” Instead, Ted got tough: Honor your contract.

Maybe Trotz had an Isles deal lined up and would’ve left anyway. But Ted might as well have said: Get lost.

However, Trotz and Rizzo are similar and scary in one way — their high institutional value and the damage done if they leave.

In any franchise, such uncertainty produces high anxiety. In the Nats’ case it also spawns mass confusion. The team’s owners seldom talk about anything. And Rizzo, the voice of the franchise, never talks about his contract.

In fact, Rizzo never even raises the subject of his contract with his bosses. For 13 years, he’s basically taken what they’ve offered, when they’ve offer it. But he never had a ring before, or half of MLB — what a stir-the-pot bunch — telling him he should feel unappreciated.

This maximizes the chance of misunderstandings and ugliness, like Rizzo leaving. That should be unthinkable.

In normal times, I would knock the Lerners for not having the elemental common sense to extend Rizzo. Whatever irritations they have — like a long-married couple that bickers — they should work out.

I’d give Rizzo a bop, too. Get a backbone. He’s not afraid of anybody in MLB, except his bosses. Because he’s popular throughout the game, he knows that others, including the MLB media, will take up his cause — because it’s so obvious. Last week, three commentators on MLB Network discussed Rizzo’s non-deal, all defending him. The D.C. media, including me, ends up as his de facto advocate.

There’s an old expression in MLB: Walk up those golden stairs. The ones to the owner’s office. If you never ask for what you’re worth, how can you expect a fair deal? Sometimes, it helps to arrive with a sawed-off .32-20 in the form of a competitive offer from Team B.

But these are the antithesis of normal times. Maybe we must think a bit outside the box to imagine how the Lerners and Rizzo got into such a precarious squeeze. Why do the Lerners seem paralyzed while those close to Rizzo say he is truly perplexed and hurt at their silence?

What industries has the novel coronavirus pandemic hit hardest? It’s a long list. Here are two due for serious pain.

First victim: Commercial real estate, whether office buildings, residential, retail, property management or hospitality. Second victim: Any pro sports franchise that gets most of its revenue from 30,000 in-stadium fans who must sit six inches, not six feet, from each other.

Say hello to Lerner Enterprises.

Go to their website. Their entire multibillion-dollar portfolio, including the picture of Max Scherzer, resides in those damaged industries listed above.

Clink on “Response to COVID-19” and the company gives visitors info on Small Business Administration loans, “working with lenders to help” and education for tenants on “all measures available to remain in good standing” on your bills. Big “ouch!”

Don’t fret for the Lerners. They’ll never be down to their last billion. But if the Lerners aren’t worried, they’re crazy. And they aren’t crazy.

Like every MLB ownership group, they’re wondering what player — and GM — salaries and contracts will look like in the future. Most likely: less money and shorter deals. What a GM like Rizzo might have expected in February probably isn’t the same in a poorer pandemic world. And it’s still in flux.

The Lerners wonder if this season will get canceled next week or end with a World Series. Will their injured, sub-.500 team flop or make a playoff run? How will that wide range of 2020 outcomes impact 2021 revenue? What about the new collective bargaining agreement to be reached after ’21?

Amid all these worries, is it possible that a GM contract is now on a back burner?

It shouldn’t be. That’s negligent.

Let’s take a deep breath.

The Lerners are in industries where the pandemic could have 10-figure impact. And much of that possible damage is out of their control. On the other hand, they have an exceptional general manager who only says one word about what he wants in a Nats contract: “Years.”

Shouldn’t you keep one excellent thing intact when so many others may be endangered?

This isn’t the guy you push to the back of the line of problems to solve. This is the item you tick off quickly for Yan Gomes money. Any mistake is a rounding error.

The big mistake is to assume that Rizzo is so loyal that he won’t feel disrespected — downright hurt — as if he’s someone who’s not that hard to replace.

In every sport, there is a master builder, or maybe a coach and GM in tandem, who grasp how to construct a champ. They can both conceptualize and execute. Such people are rare. You never replace them in their prime if they’ll stay. You overlook whatever annoys you about them. And money is never The Issue.

The Lerners, starting with Ted, are star struck by the Mickey Mantles but think everybody else is an usher. That mind-set, which shows up repeatedly, must change. One top ex-Nat exec told me that aside from star players, “The Lerners wouldn’t give God a three-year contract.”

It’s time to give Mike Rizzo more than that.

Christmas would have been a nice date for a deal. Or the start of spring training. But it didn’t get done when it should have been easy. Now, it’s in some danger of becoming a mess.

The Lerners, with Rizzo, have formed a superb World Series-winning team, with tons of credit for both. The pandemic has hit the Lerners’ world from many angles. Everything seems up in the air. But Rizzo shouldn’t be.

The Spanish proverb says, “With the rich and mighty, always a little patience.”

But not too much more.