On Monday night, the Los Angeles Rams had a special guest for their opening-round playoff win against the Minnesota Vikings. Retired Rams superstar Aaron Donald was in attendance for Los Angeles’ 27-9 victory, fueling rumors that he may unretire and join Los Angeles for their playoff run.
Potential Postseason Comeback for Aaron Donald?
Rams general manager Les Snead prompted the rumors that Donald may return.
Back in May, Snead appeared on “The Rich Eisen Show” and revealed that he and Donald discussed a potential postseason return.
“I did mention to Aaron, let’s call it going back to our Super Bowl run, there was a player by the name of Eric Weddle who kind of jumped in for the playoffs, and we signed him on the practice squad,” Snead told Rich Eisen.
“We standard elevated him for four straight games to a Super Bowl championship. So I did mention [to Donald that] if we happen to get to the playoffs again, maybe we’ll circle back and see if the cup’s not quite filled.
“But that’s just rumor. I doubt Aaron’s gonna do that. Aaron is one of those guys who’s so principled, he might feel uncomfortable like, ‘You know what, I didn’t go through those other 18 [weeks] with the guys, I’m not sure I can go through the playoffs with them.’ I’m not sure. We may tempt him. Time will tell.”
In other words, Los Angeles is leaving the light on for Donald if he wants to make a comeback. Now, not only are the Rams in the playoffs, they have advanced to the Divisional Round after defeating the Vikings in the Wild Card Round.
Now, with Donald showing up to the game in Arizona on Monday night, some fans are wondering if he might pull a Weddle, as Snead suggested.
Aaron Donald had a blast celebrating the Rams' win in a suite with Cardinals RB James Conner
"I'm proud of them boys"
(via aarondonald99/IG) pic.twitter.com/4Wq73ohASE
— Cameron DaSilva (@camdasilva) January 14, 2025
It’s worth noting that the Rams’ defensive line looked incredible on Monday night without Donald. Los Angeles sacked Vikings quarterback Sam Darnold, tying the NFL playoff record held by five other teams, most recently the Tennessee Titans in the 2021 playoffs against the Cincinnati Bengals.
Still, having Donald would obviously make this defense significantly scarier, and the Rams would certainly love to add a player of Donald’s caliber.
Prior to retiring, Donald was a three-time Defensive Player of the Year, eight-time All-Pro, and a 10-time Pro Bowler. During his final season, he had 53 combined tackles and eight sacks.
While he helped lead the Rams to victory in Super Bowl LVI, perhaps he wants to chase another ring with his former team.
Why Did Donald Retire?
Donald announced his retirement last March after 10 years with the Rams. It was shocking news at the time, but he explained the reasoning shortly after: he felt like he had accomplished all he needed to accomplish.
“For 10 years, I have been fortunate to play the game of football at the highest level,” Donald wrote on X. “I’m thankful for the people I’ve met along the way, the relationships I’ve built, and the things I’ve accomplished with my teammates and individually.
“I’m complete. I’m full. I think the passion to play the game is no longer there for me,” he added. “I will always love football, but to think about going through another camp and another 17-game season — I just don’t got the urge to wanna do that no more.”
If going through camp and the long grind of the regular season was the issue, perhaps he would be open to suiting up for a game or two in the postseason.
It remains to be seen if Donald will come out of retirement, but crazier things have happened. In fact, there’s a very recent example of this exact thing happening.
A little over two weeks ago, Shaq Barrett came out of retirement after sitting out most of the season to sign with his former team, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, for the postseason.
Over the course of his 10-year NFL career, Donald totaled 543 tackles (including 340 solo), 111 sacks, 260 QB hits, 176 tackles for a loss, 24 forced fumbles, and seven fumble recoveries in 154 games.