Whenever he hangs up his cleats, Aaron Donald is almost certainly going to go down as one of the best — if not the best — defensive lineman of all-time.
Before recently, though, people thought he’d be hanging them up this offseason. Donald edited his Twitter bio to call himself a “former” defensive lineman for the Rams, which most people read as him preparing to announce his retirement.
That’s a reasonable assumption considering he contemplated retirement and nearly went through with it after the Rams won the Super Bowl in 2022. After the team had such a poor season this year, no one could blame him for wanting to hang it up.
But, apparently, that’s not the case. Donald’s replied to a tweet from Chris Long saying he’d be playing again next season.
Tell em C Lo yeah I’m playn never said I wasn’t 🤦🏽♂️🤷🏽♂️
— AD_99 (@AaronDonald97) January 18, 2023
However, the initial tweet is about Donald’s future in LA with the Rams. Long suggests that the rebuild the Rams are on doesn’t fit Donald’s timeline and that he could try to find another team via trade.
“He’s got an opportunity to go to heights that people haven’t been. And, you know, I don’t think a rebuild, because at least in the immediacy, it is a reset…I don’t think he deserves that at this stage in his career. I would love to see him on the move.”
That’s a bit more complicated than meets the eye. Donald has four years remaining on his deal after he signed a three-year, $95 million extension after the 2021 NFL season. He’s there with the Rams for the long run if they want him to be.
Of course, they are in dire need of cap space and have limited flexibility. They could move Donald to create that, but he’s also their best player. That would be a hard pill to swallow.
We’ll see what happens, but Donald doesn’t necessarily seem opposed to the idea here. Regardless, Rams fans were happy to hear Donald is returning.
Well that settles that, speculation over https://t.co/pmVYj4Qrlu
— ElJefe (@ElJefe8158) January 19, 2023
👀 As a Ram hopefully 👀 https://t.co/rsECIzdsGE
— WORLD CHAMPIONS 💍 – Rams MX (@LARamsMX) January 19, 2023
You heard the man! https://t.co/Pu1I2QclhD
— cursed modelo enthusiast 👨🏻⚖️ (@broken_altar) January 19, 2023
Oh thank god 😮💨🙏🏽 https://t.co/3xAfdvLvFj
— Jose Lara (@TheRealLala__) January 19, 2023
Let’s gooo https://t.co/BmaijsUZaW
— Danny Matranga, CSCS (@coachdannym) January 19, 2023
AD COMING BACK https://t.co/fNGVnbTBIW pic.twitter.com/t0GBqzQcsp
— 𝓑𝓻𝓮𝓷𝓽𝓵𝔂 (@_ThatBrentGuy) January 19, 2023
Just stay in LA Big Dawg…. Real Ones Kno why the Rams Tick. Starts with 99 https://t.co/BC1YSjFTJW
— Lobo Solitario (@TaeDaReBirPH) January 19, 2023
we all got trolled by AD 💀 https://t.co/NKu8BEjkeH
— 𝚜𝚓 (@SJtheAngeleno) January 19, 2023
We’ll see what the future holds. But, for now, let’s be thankful we’ll get to watch this guy play football again next year.
