The Los Angeles Rams won one Super Bowl with Sean McVay as head coach, Matthew Stafford at quarterback and Aaron Donald as their best defensive player. They haven’t been able to win another, and Donald hasn’t suited up for them since the end of the 2023 season.
Could that change before the year is out? Ever since the Rams landed Myles Garrett in a blockbuster trade with the Browns back in June, rumors of Donald’s unretirement haven’t gone away. Now there’s a fresh wrinkle in what’s become a slow-burning storyline.
Jeremy Fowler Pumps the Brakes on Aaron Donald Comeback Buzz
Donald was spotted going through a full workout at the Rams’ facility in Woodland Hills last Friday. TMZ Sports obtained video of the 35-year-old running ladder drills, medicine ball throws and agility work for roughly an hour — grinding hard enough that an eyewitness described him as clearly gassed by the end. That’s not a knock on his shape. It’s just what an hour of real conditioning looks like at 35.
The footage set off another round of speculation. But according to ESPN NFL insider Jeremy Fowler, showing up to work out at the Rams’ building isn’t new behavior for Donald at all.
“Donald, I’m told, has not made a decision about his future as to whether to play this year,” Fowler said on SportsCenter. “He does work out at the Rams’ facility off and on really over the last few years since he’s been retired. There’s no hard news here.”
Fowler also said the sides haven’t formalized anything on paper.
“Last I checked, the Rams hadn’t made any sort of firm contract offer,” Fowler added. “That could be semantics. They have such a good relationship, that would be relatively easy and clear-cut to work out.”
Why the Door Stays Open
Nobody in the building is shutting this down, either. Fowler said both sides are at least open to the idea of a reunion, even without a deal in place.
“The Rams are leaning into this possibility,” Fowler said. “When you talk to people there, they’re not denying it. They’re certainly open to the idea. Donald seems open to the idea. People in the NFC — executives, coaches are asking around, like, ‘Is this really going to happen?'”
Fowler floated one scenario that’s been making the rounds: Donald skipping camp entirely and parachuting in midseason once the Rams need him most.
“It could be a situation where he comes in like a sniper, mid to late season, skip training camp, come in, get some sacks with Myles Garrett, and everyone’s having fun in L.A.”
General manager Les Snead has also weighed in on how Donald tends to approach big decisions. Fowler told Bleacher Report that Snead described Donald as a “principled individual” who won’t ease into a comeback halfway — if he commits, he commits fully, ready to go from day one.
Garrett Trade Is the Spark Behind All of This
None of this buzz exists without the trade that reshaped the Rams’ defensive line in June. Cleveland sent the reigning Defensive Player of the Year to Los Angeles for pass rusher Jared Verse and a package of three future draft picks, a move CBS Sports called a trade without modern precedent given Garrett’s age, production and the size of the return. Garrett set the NFL’s single-season sack record with 23 sacks in 2025 and has hit double-digit sacks in eight straight seasons.
Aaron Donald working out at Rams facility is not a new thing. He hasn’t made a call on his future, but the looming possibility has the rest of the league intrigued. @SportsCenter with @KeianaMartinTV pic.twitter.com/e4GHlGRICI
— Jeremy Fowler (@JFowlerESPN) July 11, 2026
Garrett himself has stoked the Donald talk without saying a word about it directly. Over the weekend, while unpacking moving boxes, he came across a signed No. 99 Donald jersey and posted it to his Instagram story — a not-so-subtle nod to the idea of the two lining up together, according to Yardbarker.
McVay hasn’t tried to kill the speculation either. Last month, the head coach acknowledged he’d already talked with Donald about the possibility of bringing him back on board, according to The Sports Leader.
What a Return Would Actually Look Like
The Rams don’t necessarily need Donald to be the player he was in his prime. They’ve already added Garrett and cornerback Trent McDuffie this offseason and are widely regarded as one of the NFC’s top Super Bowl contenders. A part-time, situational role — spelling Poona Ford and Kobie Turner on early downs, then getting unleashed as a designated interior pass rusher in the fourth quarter — would still be a meaningful boost to a defensive front that now runs through Garrett.
That’s also the scenario Fowler described: a player who skips the grind of camp and joins a defense that’s already rolling, rather than trying to play all 17 games at 35 years old after two years away.
Here’s a snapshot of where things stood entering this week, for context on Donald’s career arc and the current uncertainty:
| Category | Detail |
|---|---|
| Last season played | 2023 |
| Career All-Pro selections | 8 |
| Career sacks | 111 |
| Rams’ contract offer status (per Fowler) | No firm offer made, as of last check |
| Donald’s decision on 2026 season | Not yet made, per Fowler |
What’s Next
Training camp is approaching fast, which typically forces these situations toward some kind of resolution — either a player reports, signs, or the noise dies down until the next newsworthy sighting. For now, Donald remains unattached, uncommitted, and very much a name every NFC team is watching.
