Los Angeles Rams star Aaron Donald has 30 million reasons to play the 2024 season. Although rumors persist about the eight-time All-Pro contemplating retirement, Donald’s current contract calls for him to earn $35 million in 2024. $5 million is fully guaranteed already. He receives the remaining $30 million if he plays the 2024 season.
Additionally, Donald enjoyed the team’s surprising success last season, and he may wish to participate in an immediate future that looks to be quite promising.
The Los Angeles Rams Recent Roller Coaster
It’s been up and down for the Rams lately.
After winning Super Bowl LVI, the Rams had a down year in 2022, finishing with a record of 5-12.
However, the Rams bounced back strong in 2023, pleasantly surprising their fans, and making it back into the playoffs. It was a reinvigorating experience for Donald. With a fresh crop of new players, Donald said, “It felt like a whole new team….” The young players, like Puka Nacua, infused Donald with new energy, and the shoe-in future Hall of Famer enjoyed taking on the role of mentor to young teammates.
Donald’s Contract Considerations
Jourdan Rodrigue of the Athletic recently reported receiving the following information about Donald and his contract with the Rams from league sources at the NFL Combine:
“I don’t currently sense any consideration from the Rams to look into restructuring his 2024 money to create even more workable cap space, or to ask Donald to take less money…It is not typically their style to push a player on communication during the break period of the season. Yet between [Head Coach Sean] McVay and [GM Les] Snead’s non-committal responses to direct public questions, plus ongoing questions behind the scenes from those league sources, this topic does bear monitoring…
If — if — Donald retires, there would suddenly be a $35 million financial swing that would affect other free agents, the Rams’ own free agency, a draft plan in April and certainly other teams. This is why league sources had questions in Indianapolis, including for the Rams directly — questions the team has yet to answer definitively….”
When asked in January 2024 about Donald’s situation, Coach Sean McVay was characteristically diplomatic, stating, “I think those conversations occur at the appropriate time….” Donald and McVay have a great relationship.
Donald’s decision will likely be made very soon.
Building Upon the Foundation the Rams Laid Last Season
With the fortunes of the Los Angeles Rams changing so dramatically for the better in the 2023 season, there is reason to believe Donald may wish to stay and be part of likely success in the immediate future.
ESPN analysts Jeremy Fowler and Field Yates both predict that the Rams will return to the Super Bowl this coming season.
Yates, who forecasts the Los Angele Rams meeting the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LIX, stated:
“The Chiefs hardly need an explanation here, while the Rams are poised for a significant step forward. Los Angeles is equipped with draft capital (the team hasn’t made a first-round pick since 2016 but has one this year) and is armed with cap space after operating almost exclusively around the margins an offseason ago.”
For his part, Fowler predicts that the Rams will meet the Buffalo Bills in the next Super Bowl. The reasoning for his prediction is as follows:
“Although Buffalo was a better team than Kansas City in the 2023 divisional round, it found a way to lose. The Bills will break through, and this might be the last season to do it because of looming roster/cap constraints. The Rams are trending up on offense and finally have the cap space and draft capital to improve their defense for one more run.”
The draft capital of which Yates and Fowler speak is obviously a major asset. Furthermore, the Rams have a potent offense, featuring two-time Pro-Bowl QB Matthew Stafford, 2021 Offensive Player of the Year Cooper Kupp, and Puka Nakua, who was named an Associated Press second-team All Pro, as a rookie. (In the opinion of Tyreek Hill, Nakua is among the top five wide receives in the NFL right now!)
Significantly, the Rams just re-signed starting right guard Kevin Dotson to a $48 million, three-year deal. Dotson had a stellar year last season. His continued presence will offer protection for Stafford and facilitate the Rams’ running game.
Thus, there is plenty of reason for Rams fans to be optimistic that Aaron Donald will return for another season with the Rams.