The Los Angeles Rams and Aaron Donald have not yet entered contract discussions, and Donald’s preference if he does return from retirement is to play the full season rather than a defined limited role, per NFL Network’s Peter Schrager on The Pat McAfee Show on Tuesday.
Schrager has been connected to the Donald situation since Donald worked out at the Rams’ facility on Friday. His update on Tuesday added the clearest timeline yet to what has been building speculation.
“They haven’t even discussed money yet,” Schrager said. “So that’s the secondary part of this. The first part is, does Aaron Donald want to come back? Is he prepared to come back? Is he ready to come back? The Rams would welcome him with open arms, obviously, if the numbers worked out. But this is not going to be one of those deals where it’s like Week 2, Week 3, Week 4. No, no, no. He wants to go the full season if he comes back, and he wants to be at his best version of himself. So that’s why these workouts are happening.”
Former Pittsburgh Panther and retired NFL defensive tackle Aaron Donald speaks to the crowd during his jersey number retirement ceremony during halftime of the Pittsburgh Panthers vs Notre Dame Fighting Irish game at Acrisure Stadium in Pittsburgh, PA on November 15, 2025.
Schrager said an incentives-based deal is the likely structure
He was equally clear about what kind of player Donald intends to be if he does sign.
“Aaron Donald is not going to come back as some 30-cents-on-the-dollar version of Aaron Donald. He wants to be ready. He wants to be fully where he was when he retired two years ago,” Schrager said. “He doesn’t want to be a lesser version of himself. He’s too good of a competitor. He’s already won all the awards and has the Super Bowl ring. He doesn’t need to do this just to do it. He wants to be the most dominant defensive tackle in the league, and there’s a chance he can be if he’s in shape.”
.@PSchrags on Aaron Donald:
“The Rams and Aaron Donald haven’t even discussed money yet.. If he comes back he wants to go the full season”
(@PatMcAfeeShow) pic.twitter.com/NMonC7Y4z8
— SleeperNFL (@SleeperNFL) July 14, 2026
The debate between Schrager and McAfee centered on snap counts. ESPN’s Adam Schefter had earlier projected “12, 15” snaps per game for Donald in a return scenario. McAfee rejected the figure entirely. Schrager landed between the fig, estimating “20, 25” snaps but agreeing with McAfee that Donald would resist a hard ceiling on his workload.
On contract structure, Schrager speculated.
“I don’t think Aaron Donald is going to be the one to say, ‘I need $40 million for the year,'” Schrager said, according to Sports Illustrated. “It’ll be incentives-based, and it’ll also be, ‘I’m not ruining it for those young guys. They’re next in line, I get it, but I need something.'”
Donald retired after the 2023 season, his 10th with the Rams, at age 32. He is now 35. The Rams acquired Myles Garrett in June, an arrival Donald said for sure got him thinking about coming back.
Head coach Sean McVay confirmed close ongoing contact with Donald. The Rams open training camp in under two weeks. Schrager said answers on the return should come before then.