Latest On Rams, DT Aaron Donald

The Rams reached a blockbuster agreement to acquire Myles Garrett last week. Aaron Donald then dropped breadcrumbs about a potential unretirement. Understandably, the Rams are intrigued by this prospect.

Were Donald to unretire, he would again be the most accomplished player on the Rams’ roster. Garrett would be the only one close to the former all-world defensive lineman, who would be delaying his Hall of Fame induction by returning. While it is possible this situation drags on past training camp, teams may well need to prepare for a Rams D-line housing Garrett and Donald.

Rams DC Chris Shula said (via The Athletic’s Nate Atkins) he would welcome Donald back “with open arms”; the three-time Defensive Player of the Year retired months before Shula’s first season as Los Angeles’ defensive play-caller. Adding fuel to the fire here, ESPN’s Adam Schefter predicts Donald will return to the Rams after two years away.

While Schefter cautions no reporting is present on a Donald comeback being set just yet, but the veteran insider views it as “more likely than not” the 35-year-old D-line dynamo will be back. In surveying some other teams on the prospect of Donald returning to the Rams, Schefter indicates outside expectations are the NFC West power will find a way to bring Donald back.

Donald said last fall he did not have an itch to return to football, noting he had merely missed the camaraderie rather than the game itself. Several months later, he has openly teased a return. It would stand to reason the Rams would be prepared to use the legendary DT less than they previously did, as the 10-year Pro Bowler carried at least an 81% snap share on defense from 2017-23. In that span, Donald won three Defensive Player of the Year awards and helped the Rams to two Super Bowls and one title.

Since Donald’s retirement, the Rams have seen Kobie Turner and Braden Fiske become mainstays. Turner played 67% of the Rams’ defensive snaps last season, while Fiske logged a 48% number. Also rostering Poona Ford at nose tackle, the Rams would need to reduce two rising D-line talents’ playing time to accommodate a Donald return.

This would qualify as a champagne problem for a franchise that would have the makings of a D-line that potentially surpasses the 1960s-’70s Fearsome Foursome in terms of talent. The Rams teamed all-time greats Merlin Olsen and Deacon Jones together, to go with an evolving set of quality supporting-casters, more than 50 years ago to form a historic inside-outside D-line pair. Fiske, Ford and Turner’s presences accompanying a Donald-Garrett duo would stand to present tremendous blocking difficulties for opponents as the Rams attempt to “host” a Super Bowl for the second time.

Donald was attached to a three-year, $95MM deal — a raise provided after he threatened retirement post-Super Bowl LVI — and one season remains on that contract. The Rams have found money to bring in Garrett and Trent McDuffie this offseason. McDuffie signed a cornerback-record extension, while Garrett remains on his $40MM-AAV Browns contract — one the Rams restructured post-trade. L.A. also has Turner, Byron Young, Puka Nacua, Steve Avila, Warren McClendon. The team included Jared Verse in the Garrett trade but has decisions to make on several other young players. But if Donald truly wants to come back, the Rams will surely accommodate him.