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Aaron Donald ends retirement, returns to Los Angeles Rams
Aaron Donald has ended his retirement after 2 1/2 years and returned to the Los Angeles Rams, agreeing to a one-year, incentive-laden contract reportedly worth at least $20 million. The 35-year-old defensive tackle reunites with Myles Garrett on a Rams defense now among the Super Bowl favorites.
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Donald's Return
LOS ANGELES -- Aaron Donald has returned to the Los Angeles Rams, ending his retirement after 2 1/2 years to join Myles Garrett on their defensive line. The Rams announced the 35-year-old Donald's decision Sunday following several weeks of discussion, preparation, and intensive workouts.
Donald agreed to a one-year contract, and ESPN reported he will make at least $20 million in an incentive-laden deal. He joined a light practice at the Rams' training complex later Sunday, shaking hands and exchanging hugs with Garrett and his teammates, both old and new.
"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 that way, I wouldn't be here."
Donald walked away without warning in March 2024 after 10 seasons spent entirely with the franchise 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 his retirement.
The Garrett Factor
The Rams' trade for Garrett this summer set the comeback in motion. Garrett, the former Cleveland Browns star, has won two of the last three Defensive Player of the Year awards, meaning the new teammates own five of the past nine between them.
"I already thought it was a stacked D-line with Verse... and then you bring a guy like Myles Garrett, a generational talent, and then it's like, 'Gosh, that could be fun,'" Donald said with a grin.
Donald went through nearly two months of physical preparation for his comeback, working out at the Rams' training complex and elsewhere as he tested his body for the rigors of another NFL season. Coach Sean McVay has seemed confident for weeks that Donald was leaning toward a return, but the decision process stretched through the entire preseason and into the current quiet week before the Rams begin preparations for their season opener against the 49ers in Australia next month.
Donald said he finalized his decision to return after being in almost daily contact with McVay about two weeks ago. McVay said, "He means a lot to me, and it's way bigger than football."
Championship Aspirations
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.
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, where his ability to collapse pockets between the tackles drew constant double teams and created space for teammates throughout his first decade.
The decision resets Donald's eligibility clock for his all-but-automatic induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, which had been due to become possible in 2029.
Recent NFL stars who ended retirements and returned include Philip Rivers, Jason Witten, Marshawn Lynch, Rob Gronkowski, and Eric Weddle.
How each outlet told it
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Framing: Headline announces Donald's return to the Rams and frames it as a boost to the team with Garrett.
Facts Included:
Aaron Donald has returned to the Los Angeles Rams, ending his retirement after 2 1/2 years to join Myles Garrett on their defensive line.
The Rams announced the 35-year-old Donald's decision Sunday following several weeks of discussion, preparation and intensive workouts.
Donald agreed to a one-year contract, and ESPN reported he will make at least $20 million in an incentive-laden deal.
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 in March 2024.
Donald and Garrett have combined to win five of the AP's past nine Defensive Player of the Year awards, including two of the past three for Garrett with the Cleveland Browns.
Donald went through nearly two months of physical preparation for his comeback, working out at the Rams' training complex and elsewhere.
Coach Sean McVay has seemed confident for weeks that Donald was leaning toward a return, but the decision process stretched through the entire preseason and into the current quiet week before the Rams begin preparations for their season opener against the 49ers in Australia next month.
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.
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.
Donald's ability to generate a pass rush between the tackles is the primary basis of his greatness, but Donald also was a run-stuffer whose agility and technique forced defenses to double-team him regularly.
The decision resets Donald's eligibility clock for his all-but-automatic induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
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Each row is one claim, attributed to the outlet whose wording states it most clearly. Confidence rates how directly the source text states the claim — explicit and unhedged rates high; hedged, pieced-together, or internally inconsistent statements rate lower. It does not measure whether the claim is true. Status is Contested when two claims on this page negate each other; otherwise it counts the distinct outlets we found asserting it — so a single-source claim can still show high confidence, and a multi-source claim can show medium. Every one of those outlets is named beside the status, so you can check the count against the list. For claims extracted before we began storing that list, the row says so: it names the outlet the claim is quoted from and states that we have not recorded which outlets backed it. Outlets wrote at different times, so a figure that evolves — a casualty count, for example — can legitimately differ between rows; check the "as of" time next to each claim's source.
Claim
Confidence
Status
ClaimAaron Donald has returned to the Los Angeles Rams, ending his retirement after 2 1/2 years to join Myles Garrett on their defensive line.
ClaimAaron Donald won three AP NFL Defensive Player of the Year awards, earned 10 Pro Bowl selections, eight All-Pro selections, and a Super Bowl ring.
ClaimAaron 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.
ClaimThe revised contract includes $10 million in base pay, a max of $10 million in per-game 53-man roster bonuses (up to 15 games), and $10 million in playoff/playtime incentives.
ClaimCoach Sean McVay has seemed confident for weeks that Donald was leaning toward a return, but the decision process stretched through the entire preseason.
ClaimWith 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.