Fans are intoxicated with the idea of Aaron Donald coming out of retirement to line up alongside Myles Garrett, creating the most terrifying defensive front the NFL has ever seen. 

It’s a scintillating thought. 

It’s also the easy part. 

The difficult part isn’t Donald trying to work himself back into game shape, or convincing him he can still dominate. It isn’t the Los Angeles Rams finding room for him on the roster, or whether or not he can still fit in with his younger teammates. 

The biggest obstacle standing between the Rams and an Aaron Donald return is the $30 million elephant in the room. 

That’s the part that almost nobody in the organization or in the media is talking about. 

When the Rams opened training camp on Saturday, McVay confirmed what everyone already suspected: Donald is contemplating a comeback and is currently going through his own process to make a decision on whether or not he wants to unretire and play football again. The lines of communication between Donald and the Rams are wide open. 

“We’ve kept in contact,” McVay said. “He’s feeling good. His training is going really well.”

McVay also tempered expectations on Tuesday following the team’s walk-through. 

“There is no new news on the front of any imminent decision on whether he’s going to play or not.”

But, according to general manager Les Snead, the itch is real. 

“This is the first time Aaron’s… probably had the itch to come back, try to do something meaningful,” Snead said during an interview with ESPN Los Angeles. “This is the first time that… there’s a real itch there.”

It’s easy to understand why.

The Rams acquired two-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year winner Myles Garrett at the beginning of June. With the NFL single-season sack leader now wearing horns on his helmet, the Rams are the overwhelming Super Bowl favorites. That means less double teams thrown Donald’s way should he decide to play again. 

Pairing arguably the two greatest defensive players of a generation on the same defensive line wouldn’t be football, it’s a video game cheat code.

“It wouldn’t be like you were the G.M.,” said an excited Snead at the thought of it. “It would be like, wow, this is kind of something I’m watching on Netflix.”

The football fantasy of it all is far more compelling than the accounting ledger reality of it all. 

When Donald retired, he still had one season remaining on the three-year, $95 million extension he signed before the 2022 season. He played the first two years before walking away after the 2023 season. 

And just because he might return now does not mean that the final year of that contract disappeared. In essence, it is simply frozen. 

If Donald officially un-retires, he doesn’t automatically become a free agent that can sign with any team he wants for any price he wants. The Rams still hold his rights, and he is still under contract, meaning the club would owe him the approximately $31.1 million salary that was attached to that final season. 

And that’s where reality and fantasy collide. 

According to Over The Cap, Los Angeles currently has roughly $15 million to $19 million in available salary-cap space, depending on accounting methods. Even with previous cap charges from Donald’s contract already absorbed, writing a $31 million check to a 35-year-old who hasn’t appeared in an NFL game in more than two-and-a-half years becomes an entirely different conversation.

The Rams have younger stars approaching new contracts. Byron Young, Kobie Turner and Puka Nacua are among them. They have a championship roster that still requires financial flexibility throughout the season. Committing more than $30 million in cash to Donald requires more than nostalgia. 

If Donald gets himself back into prime playing shape, he might still view himself as a $30 million player, if not more. He could point to Philadelphia Eagles star Jalen Carter’s new contract extension which averages approximately $38 million annually as evidence that elite defensive tackles now have a new floor. 

So if you’re Donald, why should you accept half of your previous salary to come out of retirement and play if he believes he can still wreck games the way he used to?

And if you’re the Rams, how do you justify paying $31.1 million before seeing whether or not one of the greatest defenders can still play at the level he was previously at before he stepped away for nearly three seasons?

Somewhere between those two positions is where the answer lives. 

More than likely, any reunion would require Donald and the Rams to renegotiate the original contract that reflects both Donald’s legendary future Hall of Fame resume and the uncertainty surrounding his return. Incentives, roster bonuses, and creativity is the way to bridge the gap. 

McVay hinted as much. 

“But if that is something that he wants to do,” McVay said, “we are going to try to be able to make that happen.”

The headlines will continue to ask if Donald will return. 

But the better question is whether or not both sides can agree on a renegotiated contract for that return. Because bringing back No. 99 isn’t as simple as him saying “I’m back” and lacing up the cleats, jogging onto the practice field and getting down into his stance alongside Garrett. 

It’s about taking out a calculator and both sides coming to the negotiating table.

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