After the Los Angeles Rams swung a massive trade for pass rusher Myles Garrett on Monday, an NFL insider seemed to hint at the return of a franchise legend who recently retired.
The trade shocked the NFL when the Rams sent former Defensive Rookie of the Year Jared Verse, a first-round pick, a second-round pick and a third-round pick to the Cleveland Browns in exchange for Garrett.
Making the move for Garrett, the reigning Defensive Player of the Year, is a sign the Rams are in ‘win-now’ mode as they attempt to win another Super Bowl title. With Garrett now in Los Angeles, there have been growing calls for one former Rams defensive star to join him on the defensive line: Aaron Donald.
Part of this stemmed from ESPN NFL insider Adam Schefter posting a mocked-up photo of Garrett standing next to Donald as they both wore Rams uniforms with the caption, ‘Next in line in LA.’
Many interpreted this as a sign that Donald – a three-time Defensive Player of the Year, eight-time All-Pro, and Super Bowl LVI champion – would return to the field once again.
Despite being out of the game since 2023, calls for the 35-year-old to hit the field again popped up after the trade.
Fans are clamoring for Aaron Donald to come back to the NFL to play for the Los Angeles Rams
Those calls came after the Rams swung a massive trade for pass rusher Myles Garrett
Those fires were stoked by this tweet from ESPN’s NFL insider Adam Schefter
This led to plenty of comments on X, such as, ‘All fun and games until AD comes out of retirement and they go 20-0.’
One user posted, ‘The odds of Aaron Donald coming out of retirement for this is not 0%.’
‘@AaronDonald97 come back and get that 2nd ring,’ read one comment.
‘I know Aaron Donald just dropped that fridge he was bench pressing to pick up that phone,’ read another comment that referenced the former star’s insane workout videos.
Another tweet said, ‘Aaron Donald owes it to science to unretire and line up next to Myles Garrett just to see what would happen.’
‘McVay gotta throw a Hail Mary and text Aaron Donald that [side eye] emoji and see what he says,’ read another tweet.
While the fans may hope for this, Donald has long indicated that he’s happy in retirement
While social media may wish for such a move, all signs are pointing to Donald being content with his decision to hang up the pads.
‘For me, retirement’s been pretty good, right? Because I left on my own terms when I wanted to,’ Donald told the Daily Mail in Los Angeles last year.
‘Obviously, there’s been a few NFL players that reached out to me to try to recruit me on their team, but my football days are done and passed me, and it’s onto the next chapter of life for me,’ he said.
Donald declined to name names, adding ‘There’s been at least four guys that reached out through social media in my DM saying, “Hey, I see you’re working out, big dog. Let’s try and get this ring.” I’m like, “My days is over, so I’m done.”‘