Three-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year Aaron Donald has announced his return to the LA Rams for the 2026-26 season, undoing his 2024 retirement.
One of the main reasons Donald even considered returning to the Rams was when the franchise acquired Myles Garrett in a blockbuster trade with the Cleveland Browns.
Garrett is the reigning Defensive Player of the Year, coming off a season where he broke the all-time record for sacks recorded in a season. Now, Donald and Garrett get to play on the same defensive line.
Aaron Donald wants to do something special with Myles Garrett on the Rams
Donald spoke to the media after his return to the Rams was announced where he revealed he had spoken to Garrett before making his decision, and that the pair can now get to know each other.
“I talked to Myles through text message a few times, I talked to him today. We teammates now, so we’re gonna get to know each other a lot closer, be around a lot more, and hopefully, we do some special things together.”
Garrett and Donald will form one of the most formidable defensive duos of the modern NFL, although that’s contingent on Donald even looking like the version we saw before his retirement.
Imagining an offensive line that can contain both Donald and Garrett is hard, so the Rams might have the perfect weapons to create one of the best defenses in the NFL this season.
Donald is returning on a one-year, $20 million deal, so the Rams only have one season to maximise this partnership.
Aaron Donald’s Week 1 status for the Rams is unconfirmed
The Rams open the season in Melbourne, Australia, against the San Francisco 49ers.
Given the gruelling 30-hour round-trip that the teams will be making, the Rams might just hold off on giving Donald his return on home soil for Week 2 against the New York Giants.
Donald is already making a huge adjustment by returning to the sport after nearly three years out, so the Rams will likely avoid a situation where he returns under such risky circumstances.
Garrett, on the other hand, is expected to play. It’ll be a sign of what the Rams’ defense would be like if Donald chose not to return, and might create a terrifying template for other teams for what might happen when Donald is on the field as well.
The Rams will have to ease the 35-year-old DT back into action, but by the middle of the season in November, the team should be in peak form.
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