Former Rams DT Aaron Donald has taken two workouts with the team and is expected to take more before making an official decision about potentially coming out of retirement.
Appearing on The Rich Eisen Show, SI.com’s Albert Breer brought up a potential snag in Donald returning to the Rams. Breer wonders how the financial aspect will be worked out, as Donald would still be owed $30 million as a holdover from his last contract when he retired.
“This isn’t from Rams people or from Donald’s people, but one thing that has continually come up when I talk to other people in the league about it is, ‘how do you work out the money part of it? How much are you paying him? How does it fit into their budget, both cash and cap?'” Breer said. “So there’s that piece of it too. I don’t think he’s going to want to come out there and play for free.”
Breer also thinks Donald wants to be sure he can return close to his old self for the team and fans, not a limited version of the Hall of Famer he was the last time he suited up.
“I think the bigger piece, and this is just me talking, is him feeling comfortable that he can go out there and be Aaron Donald,” Breer said. “The trouble with that is it’s not just his ability to play football at a high level. It’s to be Aaron Donald.”
ESPN’s Adam Schefter echoed Breer’s point about the financials on his podcast, saying he doubts the Rams are going to want to pay him that number. Schefter believes the two sides will need to agree on a number that works for both, as the Rams currently have just under $15 million in 2026 cap space.
“Not only that, he currently is under contract to the Rams for $30 million,” Schefter said. “And I don’t know if the Rams are going to pay him $30 million, as much as he’d like to make that. So if he wants to come back, all he has to say (is), ‘I want to come back.’ And then it would be up to the Rams to sit down with Donald to come up with a compromised contract solution that would work for both sides.”
The feeling for most of July/early August had been that Donald would come out of retirement, with some thinking a decision could have been made as soon as three weeks ago.
Donald, 35, is a former first-round pick of the Rams back in 2014 out of Pittsburgh. He was in the final year of his four-year, $10.136 million rookie contract when the Rams exercised their 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 following the 2021 season.
For his career, Donald appeared in 154 games and recorded 543 tackles, 111 sacks, 24 forced fumbles, seven recoveries, and 21 pass defenses over the course of 10 seasons.
Donald was an 8-time All-Pro selection, a 10-time Pro Bowler, a Super Bowl Champion, and won three Defensive Player of the Year awards.
We’ll have more on Donald as the news is available.
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