By The Daily Caller (U.S.) | Created at 2026-08-06 14:11:49 | Updated at 2026-08-09 07:07:11
3 days ago
Aaron Donald just took the clearest step yet toward trading retirement for a return to the gridiron.
The former defensive tackle worked out for the Los Angeles Rams on Wednesday, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter. Donald wanted to train in a helmet and borrowed the team’s equipment at its facility. That request forced the Rams to file the session with the league. NFL.com reported the wire listed it as a tryout. Donald skipped pads, Schefter added.
Rams head coach Sean McVay did little to downplay what he saw. “Best tryout we’ve ever had,” McVay told NFL Daily’s Gregg Rosenthal and Jourdan Rodrigue in an on-site interview, according to NFL.com. He went further, saying, “I think he could make the team.” (RELATED: Superstar Player To Sign With Historic NFL Franchise In Blockbuster Move: REPORT)
Donald, 35, last suited up during the 2023 season before stepping away from the game. Questions about a possible return have followed him all summer. The talk gained steam after the Rams landed pass rusher Myles Garrett from the Cleveland Browns in a June 2 trade. Donald told ESPN’s Pat McAfee the deal got him thinking about rejoining his old club. He was later filmed on July 10 running conditioning work at the team’s Woodland Hills facility, according to TMZ Sports.
Aaron Donald wanted to do a workout in a football helmet, and even though he did not wear pads during it, he used Rams’ team equipment at their facility during training camp, requiring them to report his activity to the NFL. https://t.co/4egBgDAiLH
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) August 5, 2026“Aaron Donald has not yet made a decision about whether he wants to return to the NFL. But it certainly seems like it’s trending in the right direction,” NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported, according to Sports Illustrated. McVay struck a similar note last week, telling reporters the arrow on Donald’s status pointed upward, according to ESPN’s Sarah Barshop.
Turf Show Times reported that roughly $30 million in contract questions still need to be sorted before any deal can be inked.
A healthy Donald would slot into a fearsome front alongside Garrett, Kobie Turner and Braden Fiske on a roster that reached the NFC Championship Game last season. For a player many consider among the finest defenders the league has ever produced, one more run in Los Angeles now looks within reach.
