Jaylen Watson has begun to serve as a recruiter for his new team. Having played alongside Chris Jones in Kansas City, Watson knows firsthand how valuable a dominant defensive lineman can be for a team. So, soon after the Los Angeles Rams landed Myles Garrett, Watson pitched Aaron Donald to come back for one more run with his former team.

“@AaronDonald97 hit me big, bro 🎢,” the cornerback wrote in a post on X. 

Notably, this comes just days after the retired 10x Pro-Bowler unleashed massive speculation about his unretirement owing to an Instagram post. Sharing a workout video of himself, Donald’s caption was what caught eyeballs: “#ready” along with “Ain’t Done” by Bixst playing in the background. Many fans and prominent analysts, including Chris Brockman, seemed to firmly believe that the post had something to do with an apparent return to the NFL.  

Now, what that ‘ready’ entails, we’re not sure yet. But it doesn’t hurt to hope, especially after the kind of impact Donald had on the Rams’ defensive line.

When Aaron Donald retired after the 2023 season, he definitely left a massive void in the team. Having spent all 10 seasons at Los Angeles, the player recorded 111 sacks, while also winning three Defensive Player of the Year awards and the Super Bowl 56.

So, while the team has done its best to move forward, replacing a player of his caliber is simply impossible.

For the past two years, they have repeatedly checked in with the star about a potential comeback. In fact, even two years after his retirement, his team can’t help but reminisce about what the player means to them.

“He was a great teammate, great energy to be around, a guy that brought it every single day,” quarterback Matthew Stafford said in November last year. “And off the field, he is just a class human being that represents all that’s right with the NFL.”

“I love that guy and what he meant to me,” head coach Sean McVay, on the other hand, said. “The most important thing was he let me into his life and you got some insight into knowing what really mattered to him. He sure was a hell of a football player, too. I’m damn grateful. There are a lot of blessings that have come my way because I was fortunate enough to be able to coach him.”

Donald, however, has remained firm in his decision and appears to be thoroughly enjoying retirement.

He did not publicly respond to Watson’s plea yet, and it’s unclear whether he ever will. The 35-year-old has consistently maintained that his playing days are behind him. He has no plans to come out of retirement and return to the league.

That said, after Garrett’s arrival, ESPN’s Adam Schefter fueled the rumor mills with a visual of Garrett and Donald in Rams uniforms. After claiming that the Myles Garrett trade was the “trade of the off-season,” Schefter fueled a wave of theories, including the retired Super Bowl champ on the Rams’ roster.

Even Donald himself has acknowledged in the past that Sean McVay reached out to him about a potential comeback multiple times. But those conversations have never been enough to pull him out of retirement. Unless he changes his perspective, the 35-year-old remains only on course for what many expect will be a first-ballot Pro Football Hall of Fame induction in 2029.

Aaron Donald has a firm take on coming out of retirement

“I have no urge to play football,” Donald admitted during his appearance on the Not Just Football podcast last month. “Sometimes, in the back of my head, I’m gonna be like, ‘Do I wanna go out there again?’ I think about that and like, ‘Nah man.’ I’m like, ‘I was a guy that never wanted to play forever’. But I always said I was gonna do eight years and be done. Just happened to win a Super Bowl my eighth year. I’m like, ‘This is destiny.’”

He chose to continue his career for two more seasons after winning the Super Bowl. He was driven by the belief that he could help lead the Rams to another championship run.

“You can’t just win a Super Bowl and walk away,” he explained. “You want to experience that again.”

Today, Donald’s schedule is jam-packed. He tends to dedicate his time to his kids and wife. He also spends a lot of time with Ready Nutrition, his nutrition company, overseeing a dedicated film space, and directing his charitable AD99 Foundation. 

Jaylen Watson and the Rams faithful will undoubtedly keep dreaming of a Garrett-Donald partnership. But we can’t be certain till Number 99 officially confirms his return.