In one of the most dazzling blockbuster trades in NFL history, the Los Angeles Rams dealt the Cleveland Browns defensive end Jared Verse, a 2027 first-round pick, a 2028 second-round pick and a 2029 third-rounder in exchange for superstar pass rusher Myles Garrett.
Garrett is coming off his second NFL Defensive Player of the Year campaign, during which he set the league’s single-season sack record with 23. The Rams adding the 30-year-old, 6-foot-4, 272-pound colossus made them the only team with single-digit odds to win next year’s Super Bowl.
Now imagine if they had a similarly hulking Aaron Donald wreaking havoc in the trenches alongside Garrett. … It’s not entirely wishful thinking — at least that’s what it sounds like right now.
A bit more than two years ago, Donald announced his retirement from the NFL after a 10-year run that saw him win three DPOY awards and one Super Bowl. But after the Garrett trade sent shockwaves through the football world on Monday, murmurs about the possibility of Donald coming out of retirement started to grow louder.
One of Donald’s former teammates, now-retired defensive lineman Michael Brockers, hinted at the potential of that comeback on the “Locked On Rams Squad Show” episode that circulated Monday night.
“I would say that I do have some information that might be considered as some knowledge that others might not have,” Brockers said slowly, teasingly and cryptically. “But I’m not going to tell it all, you know. You got to watch more of the ‘Locked On Rams’ show to get some of that.
“But I will say this: My guy is staying ready so he doesn’t have to get ready, and I’m going to just leave the audience with that so we can get some more viewers on the later show this week.”
Co-host Gavin Carlson then said: “Oh my goodness. Alright, well, I guess I’m just going to go run on Twitter right now and say, ‘Breaking news: Per Michael Brockers, Aaron Donald’s coming back.’”
Carlson continued: “If Aaron Donald’s playing with me, that’s one thing. If you, ‘Big Brock,’ are playing with me, too, now we’re going to have problems.
In response, Brockers repeated “I wouldn’t play” again and again, implying that he wouldn’t make something up like that.
Then on Tuesday afternoon, while on his show, Pat McAfee read an apparent text exchange between him and Donald that seemed to confirm that the future Pro Football Hall of Fame defensive lineman hasn’t shut the door on running things back.
McAfee said Donald wrote him that the Garrett trade “for sure” got him thinking.
Reciting the back-and-forth, McAfee read back the next line from Donald: “35, removed two years ago, got to see if that fire can light back up.”
It’s worth noting that Donald still looks every bit the part of the 6-foot-1, 280-pound behemoth who terrorized offensive lines for years. Plus, during the 2023 campaign, his last season before stepping away, he registered eight sacks and collected his eighth first-team All-Pro honor.
A reasonable question to ask, however, is if the Rams can afford to shoehorn Donald into their already expensive roster.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter addressed that hypothetical Tuesday morning on “Get Up.”
“Again, we could talk about this, and I brought up the idea to the Rams yesterday, and they said, right now, they’ve spent all their money. They’ve allocated it to Trent McDuffie, who became the highest-paid cornerback in football. Myles Garrett is being paid on a four-year, $160 million contract that he’s going to rework to more favorable terms for the Rams, but they’re paying an awful lot of money.
“Another team called and asked me yesterday, ‘Could the Rams sign Aaron Donald?’ And I said, ‘They’re out of money.’ And he said, ‘In this league, you can always find money.’ And it reminded me of what the teams said when they were calling me in late March, when they said, ‘The Browns are trading Myles Garrett,’ and the Browns said, ‘We’re not trading Myles Garrett.’ Teams say the Rams might now make a run at Aaron Donald.”
Schefter later added: “I don’t put a high degree of probability on it happening. But I’m not ready to just write it off and say this is absolutely not going to happen this year.”
Schefter’s colleague, Peter Schrager, noted that when Donald retired after his age 32 season, his dream was to explore a Hollywood career akin to Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s. While that hasn’t happened, Donald’s remained in football shape, Schrager said.
Schrager also pointed out that Donald is still “very much” in contact with the Rams.
“The relationship that [Sean] McVay has with Aaron Donald is really strong, and [he] talks often with Aaron Donald and his wife, Erica, and there is a very strong bond there still. I don’t think it’s that crazy of a communication after they bring in Myles Garrett.”