Aaron Donald’s potential Rams return reportedly hits a snag

Aaron Donald's potential Rams return reportedly hits a snag. Oliver G.

Key points

• Donald, 35, retired in March 2024 after 10 seasons with the Rams, all spent terrorizing opposing offensive lines.
• Donald is technically still under contract with the Rams for $30 million, a holdover from the final year of his accord when he retired after the 2023 season.
• "Not only that, he currently is under contract to the Rams for $30 million, " Schefter remarked.
• Donald has until Week 14 to decide, the deadline for players to come off the reserve/retired list.
• "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 remarked.

Aaron Donald still hasn't decided whether he's coming out of retirement to rejoin the Los Angeles Rams, and a new report suggests there may be more standing in the way than just his own timeline.

Appearing on "The Rich Eisen Show" Monday, Sports Illustrated 's Albert Breer remarked the financial piece of a potential agreement is playing a role in Donald's timeline for return.

"This isn't from Rams individuals or from Donald's residents, but one thing that has continually come up when I talk to other individuals in the league concerning it is, 'how do you work out the funds part of it? How much are you paying him? How does it fit into their budget, both cash and cap?'" Breer remarked. "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."

Donald is technically still under contract with the Rams for $30 million, a holdover from the final year of his accord when he retired after the 2023 season. ESPN's Adam Schefter documented on his podcast that the number complicates any potential return.

"Not only that, he currently is under contract to the Rams for $30 million, " Schefter remarked. As much as he'd like to create that, "And I don't know if the Rams are going to pay him $30 million. 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."

Jason Fitzgerald of Over The Cap confirmed Donald is still tied to that contract, and he believes Donald could push for even more than the $30 million already on the books. The Rams, meanwhile, are working with just $15 million in cap space, per OTC, on an already expensive roster that features new contracts for Matthew Stafford, Myles Garrett and Trent McDuffie. That leaves plenty of room for the two sides to disagree on numbers even if Donald is fully on board with returning.

Breer continued that he believes the bigger factor is Donald wanting to feel confident he can still play at the level fans are employed to seeing.

"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 remarked. "The trouble with that is it's not just his ability to play football at a high level. It's to be Aaron Donald."

Donald, 35, retired in March 2024 after 10 seasons with the Rams, all spent terrorizing opposing offensive lines. He left with 111 sacks, 543 tackles, 176 tackles for loss, three Defensive Player of the Year awards, eight first-team All-Pro nods and 10 Pro Bowl selections, plus a Super Bowl LVI ring.

He's held two official workouts with the team this month, and Sean McVay has remarked repeatedly that Donald has "earned the right" to take his time. But with the Rams needing clarity on their cap situation and Donald still weighing a return to the level he set for himself, the decision appears to be getting more complicated rather than less.

Taken together, the developments around aaron Donalds potential Rams return reportedly hits a snag point to a situation that is still moving, and the coming days should bring more clarity.