Aaron Donald ends his retirement, joins Myles Garrett with Rams on a 1-year, $20 million deal

The defensive tackle has decided to come out of retirement and re-join the Los Angeles Rams, the team announced . Donald reached a one-year, $20 million deal with the franchise on Sunday, according to multiple reports, and he can earn another $10 million in incentives on the contract.

The move comes after the Rams made a blockbuster trade to acquire defensive superstar Myles Garrett on June 1.

"I've been working the last 12-13 weeks to train my body and get it to a point where I felt like I could play the game at a high level and be durable," Donald told NFL insider Jordan Schultz on Sunday afternoon. "I am now ready to come back to try and do something special with this group of guys. We back."

When Los Angeles pulled off the trade for Garrett, fans clamored for Donald to come out of retirement in the hopes of creating one of the most destructive and strong defensive lines of all time. Donald waited until Sunday, but has given fans exactly what they wanted. He had announced his retirement on March 15, 2024, and missed the last two seasons.

At the time of his retirement, Donald had tallied 111 sacks over 154 games. He has the 33rd-most sacks of all time since the stat was first recorded in 1982.

The last season that the defensive tackle played was in 2023. Donald played in 16 games for the Rams that year, and he finished the year with 53 total tackles, including eight sacks.

Fans weren't the only ones who instantly thought about the possibility of a Donald reunion following the Garrett deal. Head coach Sean McVay talked to the media about the possibility during Garrett's introductory press conference and said he had spoken to Donald about a return.

"Aaron's a guy that I stay really close in touch with, and I know the respect that he has for Myles, talked to him about the opportunity to be able to bring him on board," McVay said. "If Aaron decides he wants to dust them off at the age of 35, I bet you he could still do it at a pretty high clip."

"Aaron's a guy that I stay really close in touch with, and I know the respect that he has for Myles, talked to him about the opportunity to be able to bring him on board," McVay said.

"If Aaron decides he wants to dust them off at the age of 35, I bet you he could still do it at a pretty high clip."

He was a member of the Rams squad that won the Super Bowl in 2022 with a 23-20 win over the Cincinnati Bengals.

One secondary aspect of Donald ending his retirement is that his eligibility for the Pro Football Hall of Fame has reset. Whenever the defensive tackle decides to officially hang up his cleats, he will need to be out of the league for five years before being eligible for enshrinement.

Clearly, though, Donald is content letting his trip to the Hall of Fame wait. He will now start getting ready for the Rams' season-opener against the San Francisco 49ers in Melbourne, Australia, on Sept. 10.