Aaron Donald Sent Retirement Letter To Rams Amidst Contract Talks This Offseason

According to Ian Rapoport, Rams DT Aaron Donald was serious enough about retirement to send an official retirement letter to the Rams on May 9.  

Rapoport says the letter was sent because it appeared the two sides had reached an impasse in contract negotiations. Donald wanted a raise but didn’t want to give up any additional years of control to the Rams. Given the breadth of his accomplishments, he was ready, or could at least viably sell the idea that he was ready, to walk away from football. 

The letter was sent on letterhead from Donald’s agents and had instructions for the team to send it to the NFL to make it official. The timing in May was also important, as it would have been more damaging to the Rams’ cap for 2022 before June 1. 

However, Rapoport says before the letter was sent the two sides had one final meeting — which turned into another and another and eventually a deal. 

That deal gave Donald a staggering $40 million raise to bump his average annual salary above $30 million a year while keeping the remaining three years on his contract. 

Donald, 31, is a former first-round pick of the Rams back in 2014. He was in the final year of his four-year, $10.136 million rookie contract when the Rams picked up his fifth-year team option for the 2018 season, which cost them around $6.892 million.

Los Angeles signed Donald to a record six-year, $135 million extension back in August of 2019, which included a $40 million signing bonus and $86,892,000 guaranteed.

Donald had three years remaining on his deal with base salaries of $9.25 million, $14 million and $14 million when he agreed to a $40 million raise with the Rams this offseason. 

In 2021, Donald appeared in all 17 games for the Rams, recording 84 total tackles, 19 tackles for loss, 12.5 sacks, four forced fumbles and four pass deflections.