Potential Aaron Donald return has the Rams buzzing: ‘It would be one fun year’ (original) (raw)

WOODLAND HILLS, Calif. — The Los Angeles Rams are a team full of stars, but they are calling for one more star to join them.

The Rams have spent this offseason looking for playmakers on defense to catch the unit up to their star talent on offense. That has led them to two blockbuster trades — one for All-Pro cornerback Trent McDuffie from the Kansas City Chiefs and one for two-time Defensive Player of the Year Myles Garrett from the Cleveland Browns.

Still, before the Rams could even formally welcome the newest star, Garrett, to the team, there was one more question about another former Defensive Player of the Year who still visits the team facility now and again.

Aaron Donald.

“Listen, if he’s interested,” coach Sean McVay said at Garrett’s introductory news conference. “Here’s what I’ll say: You talk to Aaron, and you see what he’s saying about that.”

The Rams have been hopeful for Donald to change his mind on retirement ever since the three-time Defensive Player of the Year called it a career after the 2023 season at age 32. They’ve given him his space and have respected when he’s consistently said he doesn’t have the itch to play again.

The door cracked back open with a second blockbuster move to land Garrett. Donald has joked in the past that if the Rams ever landed Micah Parsons, he might have to consider a comeback. Parsons was traded to the Green Bay Packers last summer. Now, the Rams have added the closest comparison to Parsons in Garrett, who has recorded at least 14 sacks in an NFL-record five consecutive seasons.

Donald hasn’t yet spoken publicly about a return, but he hasn’t put an end to the rumors, either. He has continued to post videos of the intense workouts he’s kept up in the two and a half years since his retirement, and on Tuesday, he posted a highlight clip from his Rams career to Instagram.

McVay spoke with Donald before last week about bringing Garrett onto the team.

“When you have a guy who is that serious who is even considering coming back, it’s like, OK, we might have a chance,” safety and captain Quentin Lake said.

It would take quite a change in approach for Donald to consider a comeback.

“I never had an itch after I retired of like, ‘I want to come back. I want to play football still,’” Donald said last fall when he visited the Rams’ facility. “You miss things from the game. For me, it’s not really playing the game. It’s being in the locker room, hanging with the guys, watching film, cracking jokes, more the camaraderie with the fellas. I’m OK, man. I’m fulfilled. I’m happy with where I’m at in my life right now.

“I love the game of football. I just don’t love playing the game of football no more.”

By adding Garrett and McDuffie this offseason, the Rams have a pairing that could rival what Donald and Jalen Ramsey brought to win a Super Bowl in the 2021 season. That Super Bowl victory came at SoFi Stadium, which just happens to be where this season’s championship game will be played, too.

The Rams also have a quarterback at the peak of his powers in Matthew Stafford, fresh off his first MVP award. They were favorites to win the Super Bowl on all major betting platforms two weeks ago, before they swapped out Jared Verse for the reigning Defensive Player of the Year in Garrett. That mix of hype and pressure has them set up for seven primetime games, the most in the NFL, beginning with the league’s first-ever game in Australia against the San Francisco 49ers in Week 1.

This is no longer the lowest-paid defense in the league, as it was last season, when it finished in the top 10 in points allowed but faded in the postseason because of a lack of stars making closing plays. It has juice with McDuffie and Garrett, and it might have a chance to add just a little bit more from the past.

“That’d be crazy,” said defensive tackle and captain Kobie Turner, who played with Donald as a rookie in 2023. “I know he’s been messing around with it. … Having 95 (Garrett) out here does some things. … To have two historic defensive players on that line together and to have the rest of us who are trying to build up our reputation and to build to that greatness they have garnered, I think that’d be cool for L.A.”

Rams players and coaches are all stressing that this is Donald’s question to answer, and that they’ll support him if he wants to stay retired. Donald earned that right by producing a first-ballot Hall of Fame career in just 10 seasons after the Rams drafted him in the first round out of Pittsburgh in 2014, when they played in St. Louis. He posted 111 sacks in those 10 seasons despite facing double teams at the highest rate in the league. He led the NFL with 20.5 sacks in 2018 and was named first-team All-Pro in eight of his 10 seasons. He also banked more than $162 million in career earnings, per Over the Cap.

“We’d love to have him back,” defensive coordinator Chris Shula said, “and would welcome him with open arms.”

Donald turned 35 in May and hasn’t played in two seasons. He had one year left on a three-year, 95millioncontractwhenheretired.Whatkindofcontractwouldhebelookingforifhereturns?AndwhatwouldtheRamsbewillingtopay?AfteracquiringGarrett,theyhavejustunder95 million contract when he retired. What kind of contract would he be looking for if he returns? And what would the Rams be willing to pay? After acquiring Garrett, they have just under 95millioncontractwhenheretired.Whatkindofcontractwouldhebelookingforifhereturns?AndwhatwouldtheRamsbewillingtopay?AfteracquiringGarrett,theyhavejustunder19 million available in 2026 cap space, according to Over the Cap.

Beyond deciding if he wants to play, and for how much, Donald would have to figure out the timing and his role. It would be a nearly unprecedented move for a defensive lineman in his mid-30s to return to the NFL after multiple seasons of retirement.

“I don’t think you do that if you’re a normal person,” Turner said. “AD is not a normal person.”

Added Lake: “There’s so many different things. Does he come to training camp? He probably wouldn’t. Does he come before the trade deadline? Who knows? And then it’s jelling back with the team, getting into that same rhythm and routine. I know if he were to play that first game, he’s going to be sore as no other. Then is he like, ‘Oh, I’m sore, I don’t know if I want to do this anymore’? Knowing him, if he comes back, he’s going to be fully committed.”

The Rams have a defensive line that could allow Donald to play primarily on passing downs and avoid the double-teams that became a chore to keep playing through as he entered his 30s. They have a nose tackle in Poona Ford for run-specific downs, plus Turner and Braden Fiske to play heavy snaps at the three-technique spot that was Donald’s primary home. With Garrett on one edge and Pro Bowler Byron Young on the other, they can create an environment where most of the double-teams head Garrett’s way. And if they don’t, Garrett could have one-on-one opportunities one year after breaking through a steady stream of double-teams for an NFL single-season record of 23 sacks.

Unlike last season, Los Angeles won’t be asking these pass rushers to win in a heartbeat anymore. In addition to McDuffie at one outside cornerback spot, the Rams signed another starting outside cornerback in Jaylen Watson, who won two Super Bowls with McDuffie on the Chiefs.

Under Shula, the Rams love to run stunts, games and overloaded pressures to create different matchups and induce chaos. They have three defensive linemen who can play inside and outside in Garrett, Turner and Fiske, and Donald could add a fourth.

“Are there so many things we could do in terms of pressures and blitzes and all of that stuff? Of course,” Lake said. “That’s unheard of, to have two guys who won Defensive Player of the Year on the same team. It would be one fun year, I’ll say that.”

Whether Donald would come back for a limited role after the career he’s had is also a question. He was never a player who chose to turn it on and off. Still, that would likely be necessary for a 35-year-old defensive tackle after two seasons off.

The Rams do not know whether it will happen. Only Donald can know that, and he might not know it yet.

They’re excited about the defense they’re building with McDuffie and Garrett, but they’re willing to dream a little higher, too.

“Hey, Aaron: If you’re listening to this, we would love to have you,” Lake said. “You’d be a great addition. Enjoy retirement for now, but know that door is always open.”