Aaron Donald says he’s considering leaving retirement after the Rams acquired Myles Garrett in a June 1 trade with the Cleveland Browns. Erica Donald offered a quick response, while details around Donald’s age, time away, and career history add fuel to the que
By June 2, one simple question was back in circulation around the Los Angeles Rams: could Aaron Donald actually come out of retirement?
In text messages shared on ESPN’s Pat McAfee Show. Donald said the blockbuster Myles Garrett trade with the Cleveland Browns — completed on June 1 — “for sure got me thinking.” The idea has been a persistent rumor since the 2024 offseason. and the timing of this new push only makes it harder to ignore.
Donald’s response wasn’t a confirmation, though. He told McAfee that a return to the Rams still isn’t a sure thing. pointing directly to two factors: his age and the time since his last game. Donald is 35 years old and has been two years removed from his last football action. with his final season in 2023 — a year that still included a 10th Pro Bowl nod and an eighth first-team All-Pro honors.
“Gotta see if that fire can light back up,” Donald said via text, as McAfee shared in the show.
The question now lands inside a wider change to the Rams’ defensive picture. The Rams acquired Garrett on June 1. a deal that brings one high-end pass rusher into their front and potentially reshapes what opponents have to plan for. Garrett joins Los Angeles’ defensive front in 2026, after a career in Cleveland that has already produced elite production.
During his time with the Rams, Donald built a legacy that is hard to separate from the franchise itself. In a 10-year career spent exclusively with Los Angeles, he recorded 543 tackles, 176 tackles for a loss, and 111 sacks. He also totaled 24 career forced fumbles and 21 pass defenses.
Donald’s recent contract timeline also matters to how people interpret the rumors. The six-year, $135 million contract extension he signed with the Rams in 2018 expired after the 2024 season — one year after his retirement.
Garrett’s arrival adds another layer to why the question is surfacing now. The former No. 1 overall pick in the 2017 NFL Draft has 412 tackles and 125.5 sacks in the first nine years of his career thus far. His 23 sacks last season set the single-season NFL record for the statistic, previously held by Michael Strahan and T.J. Watt. That performance also helped him win his second NFL Defensive Player of the Year award.
Garrett is also tied to long-term security in Cleveland. He is under contract through 2030 after signing a four-year, $160 million extension with the Browns that begins after the 2026 season.
The rumors about Donald returning have been fueled before. Even after he initially announced his retirement, he has posted social media videos showing him lifting heavy weights throughout retirement. One video posted to Instagram three weeks ago showed him bench pressing 160-pound dumbbells — 320 pounds total.
The sequence so far is clear: the Rams made a major defensive move on June 1, Donald said it immediately got him thinking on June 2, and the details of his retirement timeline suggest a decision would still require something more than momentum.
Erica Donald, Aaron Donald’s wife, seemed to respond to the chatter directly after the Garrett trade. On X, she posted a three-word message to fans hoping to see No. 99 back.
“Y’all are hilarious,” she wrote.
Aaron Donald Rams Myles Garrett Cleveland Browns retirement Pat McAfee Show Erica Donald NFL offseason trade defensive player of the year Los Angeles Rams