Aaron Donald could be closing in on a decision to return to the Rams. And based on the optimism expressed by head coach Sean McVay on Friday, there is growing belief that the most dominant defensive player in franchise history may not be done just yet.
“Things are going in the right direction,” McVay said after the Rams wrapped up day five of training camp. “And if there’s an arrow, it’s turning upwards.”
No decision from Donald is expected until after the Rams return to their Woodland Hills facility from Loyola Marymount University, where they are spending the first two weeks of training camp.
And no exact date or timeline has been established for when Donald will make his triumphant return and join newly acquired pass-rush demon Myles Garrett on a star-studded defensive line.
But McVay did say there have been some “loose conversations” between the Rams and Donald on some different return dates.
“I want to keep those between us, just, you know, if something unforeseen happens out of respect for him and the situation,” McVay said. “But that’ll be something that I think, once we get back to Woodland Hills, we’ll have a better idea of what that timeline looks like.”
The 35-year-old Donald has been retired the last two years, but the Rams’ acquisition of Garrett and the club’s very real Super Bowl aspirations have prompted him to contemplate coming back to lend a helping hand — a move that would instantly reshape expectations and rekindle the identity of a defense once built in his image.
There aren’t many scenarios that would pull Donald out of retirement or draw him back into the relentlessly demanding world he knows he must inhabit to be the best version of himself.
But the Rams’ trade for Garrett has clearly captured his attention. So much so that a return now feels more real than hypothetical.
And it’s not just any player weighing a comeback. Donald isn’t merely the greatest defensive player in Rams history; he’s one of the most dominant forces the NFL has ever seen. A three-time Defensive Player of the Year, an eight-time All-Pro and Super Bowl champion, he was the engine behind one of the league’s most feared defenses for nearly a decade.
In the process, Donald built a career on an almost obsessive standard of excellence.
That’s what makes this moment so compelling.
From the Rams’ perspective, the stance is simple: if Donald wants back in, there’s no hesitation.
“If that is something that he wants to do, we are going to try to be able to make that happen,” McVay said at the start of camp.
The challenge is striking the right balance by making sure Donald understands exactly how valued he is, while also respecting the autonomy he’s earned to decide entirely on his own terms and timeline.
“He is going through his process, and he is putting himself in a position to make a decision, and he’s earned the right to be able to do that,” McVay said. “And for those of you guys that do know Aaron, he’s very diligent; anything that he does, he does all in.”
And with Donald, “all in” has always meant something different.
It means not just asking whether he wants to return, but whether he can once again meet the punishing physical and mental standards he demanded of himself throughout his career. It means evaluating whether his body can still handle that load, and whether he’s willing to live inside that grind again.
But a potential return would also come with a different blueprint than the one Donald operated under for most of his career.
The Rams would not be asking him to play 85 to 90 percent of the defensive snaps like he did during the prime of his career. That version of Donald was a rare physical marvel who routinely stayed on the field almost every defensive series while still wrecking games.
At this stage, the goal would be far more calculated: maximize his impact by putting him in position to dominate in a more limited role. Likely somewhere in the range of 25 to 30 snaps per game.
The challenge is not proving Donald can still be “Aaron Donald”. The challenge is making sure they don’t ask him to be the version of Aaron Donald that existed years ago.
After two seasons away from football and at 35 years old, the Rams’ priority would be preserving the explosiveness, power and instincts that made him special while managing the workload that comes with this stage of his career.
This isn’t a casual thought exercise, either. Donald is actively stress-testing that reality in real time.
“He’s going through a very strict regimen and process that was similar to what he did when he played,” McVay said.
That’s the threshold. And if Donald decides he can still meet it, this stops being a feel-good comeback story and becomes something far more dangerous.
Because the league doesn’t need to see the old Aaron Donald for this to matter.
It only needs to see the version who can wreck a game for 30 snaps.
And if that version is still there, the rest of the NFL is about to find out just how much damage a little bit of Donald can still do.
