Los Angeles Rams Continue To Hint At Aaron Donald’s Return

Los Angeles Rams defensive lineman Aaron Donald announced his retirement earlier this offseason, but the door has not been closed to a potential return.

General manager Les Snead already said earlier this month that he may end up checking in with Donald to see if he would return for a potential playoff run.

Now, wide receiver Cooper Kupp is putting some feelers out there.

Kupp told Bridget Condon of NFL Network that Los Angeles still have Donald’s locker set up “if he ever wants to come back” and that if he ever wants to return, “he’s more than welcome.”

So, Snead wants Donald to return. Kupp wants him back. We can probably safely assume that the entire Rams team would like to see him back on the field in 2024.

But does Donald still want to play?

Donald seemed pretty firm in his stance that his career was over following his retirement announcement, but it’s also abundantly clear that he has plenty left in the tank.

After all, the future Hall-of-Famer rattled off 53 tackles and eight sacks this past season, earning his 10th straight Pro Bowl appearance and his eighth First-Team All-Pro selection.

Of course, we don’t know how Donald feels during the week throughout the NFL season. The season is a grind, and for a player in his 30s like Donald, especially one who plays in the trenches, it has to be incredibly taxing physically and mentally.

But let’s just say Donald decides to make a comeback. Suddenly, Los Angeles goes from an interesting dark horse in the NFC to a legitimate contender.

The Rams would then have Donald, Kobie Turner, Byron Young and rookies Jared Verse and Braden Fiske along their defensive front. We already know they have a bunch of weapons offensively, and let’s remember that LA went 7-1 over its final eight regular-season games before bowing out to the Detroit Lions in the Wild Card Round of the playoffs this past year.

Would Los Angeles be able to legitimately challenge teams like the San Francisco 49ers and the Lions in the NFC? If Donald returns and is still the same player he was in 2023 (or at least similar), then the Rams would actually have a serious chance of doing just that.

All of that being said, Aaron Donald himself hasn’t uttered a single word about a potential comeback, so we should probably just let sleeping dogs lie. At least for now.