Aaron Donald has returned to the Los Angeles Rams … balance sheet. The un-retired defensive tackle is now an official member of the 2026 active player salary cap and Overthecap.com has the numbers to explain how much Donald is going to cost the Rams this season. Donald’s addition, with no corresponding moves yet, leaves L.A. ranked 30th in available salary cap, potentially necessitating more cap moves in case the Rams feel the need to add even more players this season.
It would actually be more surprising
if the Rams stopped making additions than if they made another blockbuster move. Remember adding Odell Beckham, Jr. and Von Miller in the middle of the 2021 season?
Donald has a $10 million cap hit
Before his return, there was the matter of the $30 million Donald had left on the contract when he retired, which the Rams have been able to skirt by structuring the deal like this:
- $10 million base salary for 2026 (all counts against the cap)
- $10 million roster bonuses for 15 games
- $10 million in incentives
It adds up to $30 million and Albert Breer of SI believes that barring unforeseen setbacks, it should be easy for Donald to get at least $25 million of that.
Roster bonuses should count in the current year’s salary cap, so if Donald earns $10 million, the Rams will need to find that money. Incentives depend if they’re classified as “likely to be earned” or “not likely to be earned” and Breer is suggesting that they’re likely to be earned. Those also count on the current year’s salary cap.
Therefore, if Donald makes another $20 million in 2026, the Rams need to find $20 million.
The Rams have $5.8 million in salary cap space
According to OTC, L.A. is down to only $5.8 million in cap space. The easiest way to create space would be restructuring contracts of players with multiple years left, or extending players who are in a contract year. There are quite a few of those.
If the OTC calculator is correct, the Rams could save over $11 million by restructuring Matthew Stafford’s contract. Stafford is taking his career year to year at this point, so it is somewhat of a small risk.
The best impending free agent to extend would ironically be A.J. Jackson, who carries an $18 million base salary in the final year of his contract. Ironic because Jackson could still be suspended this year. But $18 million is a lot of money to move around, if the Rams need to do that. Other free agents, like Puka Nacua, don’t make that much. Nacua only has a $5.7 million base salary, so an extension wouldn’t help.
For now, the Rams are only paying Donald $10 million. That’s certain to change.
Vote in this week’s Feed Post React Poll: Who benefits the most from AD return?
2-game exemption
Donald was granted a 2-game commissioner’s exemption, meaning he won’t have to be added to the roster until Week 3. That’s also why his $10 million per-game roster bonus is only 15 games.
But soon Aaron Donald will be on the Rams roster, and on the field, perhaps as soon as Week 1. That’s exciting for the defense, but still costly to the salary cap. We don’t know how much it will cost by the end, but we do know that right now he’s kind of a discount.
