After weeks of mulling a comeback, Aaron Donald made his return to the Los Angeles Rams official on Sunday.
Donald might have announced his NFL comeback on Sunday, Aug. 30, but the defensive tackle revealed to reporters that he knew he wanted to return to the gridiron about two weeks ago following much speculation.
“It was on and off for a while, but I think we knew this decision about two weeks ago. I kind of knew for two weeks,” Donald told reporters after his first practice since coming out of retirement. “I talked to Sean (McVay) every single week, damn near every day. We stayed in contact. I would give him all my updates, how I was feeling, how things were going.”
Donald agreed to terms on a one-year, $20 million deal with playoff incentives
that can raise the overall value to $30 million, a person familiar with the situation told USA TODAY Sports. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because they aren’t authorized to discuss the deal.
Donald, who originally retired on March 15, 2024 after 10 NFL seasons, admitted it wasn’t an easy decision to return following a two-year retirement. But the Rams’ blockbuster offseason, highlighted by the acquisitions of two-time defensive player of the year defensive end Myles Garrett and two-time All-Pro cornerback Trent McDuffie, helped lure the 35-year-old star out of retirement.
“Seeing what’s being done with this team, pieces that was getting brought here. Like ‘Okay, it's a complete team.’ And then you know you see other moves they make, and it's like, ‘Okay, I wish I was still out there playing right about now,’” Donald said. “And you know, starting to put myself in a position to train and get my body to a certain point where I felt good, and see how I move, and see if I still can do certain things. I felt pretty good through my training for about 13, 14 weeks of just nonstop grinding and get to where we are at right now.”
According to BetMGM, the Rams are the prohibitive favorite to win Super Bowl 61. Garrett is the reigning defensive player of the year, and the Rams already boast last year’s MVP in quarterback Matthew Stafford. The Rams are the first team in NFL history to have a reigning MVP at QB and the defending defensive player of the year on the same team.
Donald is one of just three players in NFL history to win NFL Defensive Player of the Year three times (2017, 2018 and 2020). He was also the recipient of the NFL’s Defensive Rookie of the Year award in 2014.
Donald and Garrett now form what appears to be the most formidable defensive line in the NFL. The two have a combined five NFL Defensive Player of the Year awards.
“You bring in a guy like Myles Garrett, a generational talent, and it’s like that can be fun, right? Obviously, what they did on the back end with certain pieces they need at the secondary. I think this is a complete team with me here, without me here. So, for me to even have the opportunity to be part of this team, I take nothing for granted,” Donald said. “It’s a blessing to be retired from the game for two years and have the opportunity to come back and be a part of something special.”
Donald returns with 543 tackles, 111 sacks, 176 tackles for loss, 790 pressures and 24 forced fumbles already on his career regular-season resume. He ranks first among active players in pressures (790), second in tackles for loss (176) and seventh in sacks (111) despite missing the past two seasons.
The question now is whether or not Donald can return to his elite form after a two-year hiatus? The defensive tackle is confident the answer is yes.
“Do I feel like I can play at a high level? Yes. Do I feel like I can still be myself? 100%. If I didn’t feel like that I wouldn’t be here. From everything I did from training, conditioning, to the football transition and doing football drills and things in that nature. I recorded everything I studied myself to a T,” Donald said. “In my opinion, I don’t see no difference. If not, it looked a little cleaner to me.”
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Aaron Donald knew he wanted to return to Rams two weeks ago
