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Aaron Donald ends his 2 1/2-year retirement and returns to the Los Angeles Rams
Aaron Donald #99 of the Los Angeles Rams reacts after defeating the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Championship Game at SoFi Stadium on Jan. 30, 2022 in Inglewood.
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Christian Petersen
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Getty Images North America
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Aaron Donald returned to the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday, ending his retirement after 2 1/2 years to chase another Super Bowl title.
The 35-year-old Donald made his decision after several weeks of discussion and nearly three months of intensive workouts for a star defensive lineman who reigned atop his position in a Rams uniform from 2014 until his retirement in early 2024.
Donald joined a light practice at the Rams’ training complex later Sunday, shaking hands and exchanging hugs with Myles Garrett and the rest of his teammates, both old and new.
While he hasn’t decided whether he will play in the Rams’ season opener against the 49ers in Australia next month, Donald is eager to complete a comeback that seemed improbable only three months ago.
“Do I feel like I can play at a high level? Yes,” Donald said. “Do I feel like I can still be myself? One hundred percent, and if I didn’t feel like that, I wouldn’t be here.”
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Donald agreed to a one-year contract, and ESPN reported he will make at least $20 million in an incentive-laden deal.
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Donald became one of the greatest defensive players of his era during a decade spent entirely with the Rams in St. Louis and Los Angeles. He won three AP NFL Defensive Player of the Year awards while earning 10 Pro Bowl selections, eight All-Pro selections and a Super Bowl ring before he retired somewhat abruptly following the 2023-24 season.
After two years of tending to his business interests and enjoying ample family time, Donald began to entertain the notion of a comeback this summer after the Rams traded young lineman Jared Verse in a deal for Garrett, one of Donald’s few peers in contemporary defensive line play.
With MVP Matthew Stafford leading the NFL's top-ranked offense, Los Angeles was already the betting favorite in most sportsbooks to win its second Super Bowl title under McVay even before Donald's comeback.
Along with Garrett, Los Angeles added cornerbacks Trent McDuffie and Jaylen Watson from Kansas City to a defense that now looks more equipped to keep pace with the Rams' offense, which returns every major contributor around Stafford from last season's elite unit.
Donald's 111 career sacks are the Rams' franchise record and the second most in NFL history among linemen who primarily played on the interior.
The decision resets Donald's eligibility clock for his all-but-automatic induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, but he's much more interested in seizing the strong opportunity to play for a second ring while lining up alongside Garrett and talented young contributors Byron Young, Kobie Turner and Braden Fiske on what should be an opponents' nightmare of a defensive front.
Donald would have been eligible for the 2029 class in Canton, Ohio.
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