Donald coming out of retirement soon?

By: Jake Rajala

There has been plenty of speculation that Aaron Donald could come out of retirement. He’s arguably on the Mount Rushmore of defenders of all time. With that said, I’m going to lay out potential fits for AD.

Los Angeles Rams

This one is a slam dunk. The Rams already added Myles Garrett, who won DPOY last season. Donald and Garrett would undoubtedly be the NFL’s best DT-DE combo. Obviously, Donald has familiarity with the culture of the Rams and the area in LA, as well. I’d also like to see Von Miller make a return to LA!

Aaron Donald with 2 Sacks on Dak Prescott in his final 😉 season – 2023. AD was still so quick & able to split double teams. His power to move these larger interior lineman with jabs!

Surely AD could have publicly shut down these return rumors weeks ago right? Unless…. Hmm 😏 pic.twitter.com/eeThS6eYiw

— RAMS ON FILM (@RamsOnFilm) July 1, 2026

Cincinnati Bengals

The Bengals lost Trey Hendrickson this offseason. They brought in Dexter Lawrence. AD would be a beautiful partner to Sexy Dexy. The Bengals have an offense that can’t be slowed down. Sadly, their defense ranked 30th in PPG allowed last season. Perhaps the Bengals and the Rams meet again in the Super Bowl. This time, AD will be in a Bengals uniform.

Kansas City Chiefs

Chris Jones and Donald would make the Chiefs defense be the best in the league. Patrick Mahomes showed that he needs help from his defense. He isn’t immortal. They may have ranked high in defensive categories last season, but the Chiefs defense weren’t as clutch as they should have been.

Bo Nix made sure to help Chris Jones up after the play 🙌

DENvsKC on Prime Video
Also streaming on @NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/jdnPOFFvel

— NFL (@NFL) December 26, 2025

New Orleans Saints

The Saints are the most slept on team in the league. People seem to forgot that Tyler Shough went 5-4 as a rookie. He was sloppy at times, but he still showed up when it mattered the most. The Saints recently welcomed back Cameron Jordan. He will join Chase Young and Carl Granderson on the DL. It’s a DL unit that Donald should be ecstatic to join.

Houston Texans

It would be beyond legendary if Donald joined the Texans DL, where Danielle Hunter and Will Anderson reign. The Texans could have a DL with Donald that could carry CJ Stroud deep into the playoffs. We see plenty of people moving from California to Texas. Perhaps Donald could be another west coast figure to go to Texas.

Honorable Mention:

Seattle Seahawks

It would be quite tempting for Donald to join the “defending” Super Bowl Champions. They had the very best defense in PPG allowed last season. That doesn’t mean they can’t improve. With Donald, they could have a defense that could be special as the Legion of Boom.