WOODLAND HILLS, Calif. — Aaron Donald is coming back.
The three-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year has ended his retirement and returned to the Los Angeles Rams after sitting out the previous two seasons, the team announced Sunday.
Donald’s unexpected return reunites the Rams with one of the greatest defensive players in NFL history and the cornerstone of the franchise’s Super Bowl LVI championship team. He last played during the 2023 season, completing a remarkable 10-year run in which he earned Pro Bowl honors every season and was named a First-Team All-Pro eight times.
Donald has appeared in 154 regular-season games, including 150 starts, and recorded 543 tackles, 111 sacks, 176 tackles for loss, 256 quarterback hits, 24 forced fumbles and seven fumble recoveries. According to TruMedia, his 790 pressures and 525 quarterback hurries are the most among active players following his return.
Despite his two-year absence, Donald ranks seventh among active players in career sacks, second in tackles for loss and quarterback hits and tied for third in forced fumbles. He is also the Rams’ franchise leader in sacks since the statistic became official in 1982 and tackles for loss while ranking second in forced fumbles.
Donald’s return adds another chapter to a career that began when the Rams selected him with the 13th overall pick in the 2014 NFL Draft. He was named the NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year that season and quickly developed into the most dominant defensive lineman of his generation.
He joined Lawrence Taylor and J.J. Watt as the only players in league history to win the Associated Press NFL Defensive Player of the Year Award three times, capturing the honor in 2017, 2018 and 2020. Donald was also one of three unanimous selections to the NFL’s 2010s All-Decade Team, joining Tom Brady and Watt.
Donald’s defining moment with the Rams came in Super Bowl LVI at SoFi Stadium. With Los Angeles protecting a late lead against the Cincinnati Bengals, Donald pressured quarterback Joe Burrow on fourth down and forced an incomplete pass that secured the Rams’ first Super Bowl championship in Los Angeles.
He has played in 11 postseason games, including two Super Bowls and two NFC Championship Games, recording 34 tackles, six sacks, 10 tackles for loss, 51 pressures and 16 quarterback hits.
Donald’s 154 regular-season appearances with the Rams rank 21st in franchise history. After two seasons away from the game, he will now attempt to resume one of the most decorated careers the NFL has seen and once again anchor the Rams’ defensive front.