Aaron Donald's contract looms over his potential return

As the potential Aaron Donald unretirement deliberations continue, some have pointed to his contract as a potential impediment. If it is, no one is saying anything to give credence to that dynamic.

Here's how the situation works. Donald's retirement mothballed the remainder of his prior deal: one year, $30 million.

The Rams currently have $16.7 million in cap space . The day Donald returns to the roster (if/when that happens), his $30 million will hit the cap. By 4:00 p.m. ET on that day, the Rams would need to create at least $13.3 million in cap space.

Whatever the magic number for 2026, it would be very easy to restructure his pay. They'd give him a large chunk of it as a signing bonus and add voidable years to the deal, pushing the excess cap charge into future years and significantly reducing his 2026 cap number.

But cap space is only part of the calculation. Cash is the other. All teams have spending budgets. Most are set before the league year begins. And $37 million went to Myles Garrett in early June, on top of the various commitments previously made to the other players on the team.

Receiver Puka Nacua, who clearly deserves a new deal, will eat up more of that money if/when the Rams extend a low-money rookie contract that expires after the coming season.

Donald's possible return has hovered for weeks. Surely, the Rams have planned for all relevant contingencies. Since June, however, the market for defensive tackles has moved to $38 million, thanks to the Jalen Carter deal in Philadelphia.

Donald won't, and shouldn't, play for peanuts. He has significant value, and he hasn't been bashful in the past about trying to get it. He held out deep into August in both 2017 and 2018. He mused about retirement after the Rams won the Super Bowl, before the Rams ripped up the three remaining years on his contract and gave him a massive increase.

Yes, work will need to be done if Donald returns. Quickly. The Rams would need to have a plan in place for finalizing a new contract on the day he officially returns. In theory, they potentially would have to cut him and re-sign him, if a deal can't be buttoned up by 4:00 p.m. ET.

It's possible that the two sides have discreetly reached a consensus as to how a new contract would be structured, and that they've agreed to keep it quiet while Donald continues to assess whether he'll play. If they haven't, the Rams have at least fully strategized a plan as to how they'd wave the cash-and-cap wand in order to absorb Donald's contract in a way that checks all boxes.

It's also possible that the real reason for the delay is the contract, and that everyone involved realizes that keeping their mouths shut about it is the only play. It's not a crazy thought; Donald wouldn't want to create the impression that he's being greedy (despite the fact that he has every right to expect to be fairly compensated), and the Rams wouldn't want to create the impression that they could have added Donald to a team that's already the betting favorite to win the Super Bowl but that ownership was too cheap to close the deal.

And here's where things could get downright nutty. If Donald, through his process of working out intensely for nearly three months in an effort to come back, shows up and refuses to renegotiate his contract, the Rams would either have to quickly come up with $13.3 million in cap space elsewhere or get him off the roster by 4:00 p.m. ET on the day he's reinstated from the reserve/retired list.

To complete this unlikely-but-not-impossible hypothetical scenario, Donald could be released by the Rams if he won't relent on his $30 million — and then become a free agent. He'd be able to hit the open market. And any other team, from the Seahawks to the 49ers to the Cowboys to the Patriots to the Broncos to the Texans (that possibility will make offensive coordinators pee a little), could try to sign him.

As fascinating as the possibility of Donald being available to any other contender may be, the Rams surely have a plan in place to account for the possibility that Donald would show up, Brett Favre-style, and say, "Deal with my $30 million cap number." Still, if the Rams' plan consists of regarding the move as a bluff and calling it, Donald could potentially (and the chances are slim but not zero percent) make his comeback with another contender that is willing to pay him considerably more than the Rams would offer.