The Draw Play

It appears the early offseason rumors of Aaron Donald entertaining a comeback might actually be coming true. Donald worked out with the Rams. He appears to actually be on the way back in. The Rams are going all in for this last push with Stafford and Donald smells blood. Wild stuff.

Plenty of people are operating as if Prime Donald just walked into the building. That’s probably too much to ask for. Donald is 35 and has spent several years out of football. But I’ve also seen  people outright doubting him, and that makes me laugh. If this was a regular star player, sure. We aren’t talking about a regular guy. We are talking about one of the GOATs of his position. We are talking about an absolute madman.

Donald used to practice on his handwork against a guy holding knives. He wielded helmets as weapons in joint practices. Aaron Donald is a psycho. He has the competitor sickness in him, that particular mental disease that the greats all have that drives them into psychotic behavior to be the best. An older, kinda rusty Donald still scares me more than most players in the league. Donald didn’t retire because he was old and falling apart. He retired fairly young for a superstar, while he was still a force. Donald likes to win. He plays to win. The Rams window appeared to have been closing when he hung up his cleats in 2023. He had an injury the year prior. Stafford was old, they lost to the Lions in the wildcard, things felt like they were headed down. He was 3x Defensive Player of the year, a champion, and a future hall of famer. Why not just head out? I don’t blame him. He had nothing left to prove.

Even a guy half that good is a good starter in this league. All Donald needs to be for this to work is like 60% of what he was. This is why I’m laughing at the people doubting him for the moment. I believe this madman’s time away from the league only healed him. His age might pose some durability risks, but I doubt he’s going to be particularly rusty or out of step. I do not see this as Jordan on the Wizards. The main thing that I think a lot of the doubters are sidestepping is that Donald doesn’t need to be the 3x Defensive Player of year anymore, because the Rams defense now employs the reigning 2x Defensive Player of the Year on the same line. Myles Garrett is still in his prime. Garrett is going to be the focus of any opponent. Donald is going to be the “other” one. He might actually thrive as the complementary piece.

I now understand why Jacoby Brissett held out for the best contract he could get.