How Rams, Aaron Donald both protected themselves for his NFL comeback

Before defensive superstar Aaron Donald officially ended his retirement to return to the Los Angeles Rams' active roster in late August, some suggested that money and certain language related to his contract could keep him from playing in an NFL game through at least a portion of the ongoing season. 

More recently, Donald missed what became the Rams' 24-20 Week 4 win over the Philadelphia Eagles this past Sunday due to a back issue. For a piece published on Tuesday, NFL insider Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated explained why Donald's absence on the first Sunday of October wasn't a big deal regarding his bank account or his working relationship with the Rams. 

Why Aaron Donald still got a bonus despite not playing

"Donald’s contract, which maxes out at $30M, has a $10M base, and then another $10M in per-game roster bonuses," Breer noted. "But those roster bonuses are based on Donald being on the 53-man active roster, rather than the 46-man game-day roster. So on Sunday, Donald was inactive due to a back issue. But he still made his $666,667 bonus for the week because it wasn’t based on him being on the roster on game day, but rather being on the active roster at all."

Donald didn't travel for the Rams' Week 1 game against the rival San Francisco 49ers in Melbourne, Australia, which Los Angeles lost 27-7. While he played over the Rams' following two contests, he has yet to look like the dominant force he was when he earned NFL Defensive Player of the Year Award honors on three occasions. 

That said, having Donald on the roster was always more about December, January and February for the Rams. As of Tuesday afternoon, it seemed that he could possibly play when the 2-2 Rams host the 3-1 Buffalo Bills for a "Monday Night Football" showdown on Oct. 12. 

Thus far, Donald has tallied a single solo tackle and no sacks on the campaign. 

Why Aaron Donald may miss more than Week 4 even if he's cleared to play

"That illustrates nicely how the team got protection if Donald were to suffer a longer-term injury, while the player in this case was protected if he had something shorter-term he was dealing with," Breer added about Donald's contract. "For what it’s worth, it also puts less pressure on everyone to force the 35-year-old Donald out onto the field when he’s nicked up. Which should be good for the Rams, and Donald, when taking into account what all this might look like in January or February."

Of course, the Rams can only suffer so many more defeats before they'd find themselves in danger of possibly missing the playoffs. Nevertheless, Breer's update could lead one to believe that Donald and head coach Sean McVay may have an understanding regarding how many games the future Hall of Famer will play in before the postseason tournament gets underway.