It has now been more than two months since rumors started that Aaron Donald might come out of retirement to play for the Rams this year, but that hasn't happened yet.
The speculation started in June after the Rams made a shocking trade to acquire Myles Garrett from the Cleveland Browns. Less than 24 hours after the deal went down, the Donald rumors started and the three-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year had a chance to shut them down, but instead, he added fuel to the fire. On June 2, Donald admitted that he was thinking about a possible comeback.
"I'm for sure flirting with the idea," Donald told Jordan Schultz. "Helluva an opportunity with the Super Bowl in SoFi this year. If I can find the fire, it's a possibility."
That comment came in June, but two months later, a Donald return seems like a lot more than "a possibility." Based on everything that's happened over the past two months, it sure feels like Donald is planning to make a comeback this year, so we're going to try and predict when he's officially going to come out of retirement. However, before we get to that, let's take a look at why a return seems imminent.
Why a Donald return seems like it's going to happen
After announcing that he might return on June 2, the Donald chatter stopped for nearly a month, but then it shot back to life on July 10, so let's start here.
July 10: The TMZ workout. If you're wondering what happened on July 10, that's when TMZ caught Donald working out at the Rams' facility. Before this, it wasn't clear how serious Donald was about a return, but then TMZ managed to obtain a video of Donald working out on the Rams' practice field, which ramped up the speculation that he was going to come out of retirement after two years. At the beginning of training camp, Sean McVay actually cracked a joke about the fact that TMZ caught Donald at the team's facility. With the Rams holding camp at Loyola Marymount, McVay was asked if Donald might spend some time working out at the team's normal facility in Woodland Hills, Calif. "There's nobody at the Rams facility right now, but maybe TMZ knows the answer to that," McVay said.
July 31: McVay offers first big hint that Donald might be returning. The Rams held their first fully padded practice of training camp on July 31 and after the session was over, McVay said the possibility of a Donald return was "trending upwards." The Rams coach also gave the first hint of just when Donald might actually come out of retirement. McVay made it clear that Donald wouldn't be making his return while the team was still practicing at Loyola Marymount. "Once we get back to Woodland Hills, we'll have a better idea of what that timeline looks like," McVay said. "There won't be any decision and anything in terms of Aaron's situation while we're here. That's kind of already been set out when we've talked for the past couple weeks."
The Rams' final practice at LMU will be coming on Aug. 7, so a Donald decision could come at any point after that.
Aug. 1: McVay talks to CBS Sports HQ. During our CBS Sports HQ training camp tour this year, we stopped at Loyola Marymount and that's where two-time Super Bowl winner Bryant McFadden conducted an interesting interview with McVay. The Rams coach had to answer each question with a facial expression, and his response to a question about Donald's possible return made it seem like the 35-year-old will be making a comeback soon.
Did Sean McVay just ...? 😉@BMac_SportsTalk pic.twitter.com/rdnbz6MfGO
— NFL on CBS 🏈 (@NFLonCBS) August 2, 2026
Aug. 5: The NFL transaction wire gives a surprising Donald update. It's not clear how many times Donald has been at the Rams' facility since July 10, but he was definitely there on Aug. 5 and we know that thanks to the NFL transaction wire. Donald was there because he wanted to work out in a football helmet and he ended up going to the Rams' facility to use their equipment. Due to that fact, the Rams had to report the visit to the NFL and it was listed as a "tryout."
"Best tryout that we've ever had, I think he could make the team," McVay said Wednesday when asked about the situation. "That was honestly our way of getting to work with him in the parameters of what's necessary."
So does Donald unretire or not?
Here's what we know: The Rams aren't looking for Donald to come out of retirement until they return home from training camp and their last practice at LMU is on Aug. 7, so it will be some point after that. We also know that the Rams had Donald in for a formal workout on Wednesday, which feels like one of the final steps both sides would want to take before a return.
Although Donald is definitely in good shape, he likely isn't in football shape. The only way to get into football shape is to get on the field, so it seems like it would be in Donald's best interest to return at some point in the next few weeks. All 32 NFL teams have to cut down their roster to 53 players by Aug. 30 and the Rams would likely want to know before that if Donald is going to play, so that feels like a soft deadline.
BREECH PREDICTION: With all of that in mind, this seems to set up a situation where Donald returns between Aug. 9-16. If he returns on Aug. 9, that would give him a chance to play in a preseason game to get his feet wet. If he's back on Aug. 16, he may not play in a preseason game, but he would get three full weeks of practice before the Rams' opener in Australia against the 49ers. If I were going to predict an exact date, I'd probably go with Aug. 10. The Rams will be back at their home practice facility in Woodland Hills at that point and having Donald at practice to open the week would be a fitting way to mark their return.
Donald is already under contract with the Rams, and after he makes the decision to return, his old deal will instantly become reactivated by the team. At that point, the Rams will be on the hook for about $30 million to Donald in 2026, so the team might have to restructure his deal so that it can fit under the salary cap.
PREDICTION FROM A FORMER NFL GENERAL MANAGER: Of course, there's always a chance that my prediction ends up being 100% wrong -- it wouldn't be the first time -- and if that happens, former Titans general manager Ran Carthon outlined a plan that might make sense for Donald.
Carthon spent five seasons as the Rams' director of player personnel (2012-2016) and he was with them when they drafted Donald in 2014. During a conversation about Donald on the "With the First Pick" podcast, Carthon predicted that Donald might wait to return until AFTER the season starts.
"I don't know that we see him early in September," Carthon said. "If you're Aaron Donald at this point and you came back and the team doesn't win the championship, then what did you come back for? I think we will see some games played so he can evaluate how the season is going for the team. I think, if the season is going well, we'll see him, let's call it the middle of September, early October. If the season is not going well, then I don't know that we see him at all."
With games against the 49ers, Giants and Broncos to start the season, Carthon thinks that Donald might wait to see how those play out before committing to anything. We don't know for sure when Donald will unretire, but at this point it seems almost certain to happen.
Before retiring, Donald won a Super Bowl ring in 2021 after the Rams beat the Bengals at SoFi Stadium. This year, the Super Bowl is once again being held at SoFi and that seems to be the siren song that is calling Donald out of retirement.
