A lot of attention has been paid to Aaron Donald in the last few days after his somewhat surprising comments on the “I Am Athlete” podcast recently, saying he would be “at peace” with his career if he were to retire right now. He also indicated that if he and the Rams can’t come to an agreement on a new contract, he’d be done playing football after eight seasons – which is the number of years he set out to play when he first entered the NFL.
There’s some level of concern among fans due to the Rams’ inability to extend Donald yet, but Sean McVay doesn’t sound like someone who’s worried.
“We’ve had great dialogue,” McVay said Monday. “The goal all along has been to try to get this thing figured out, but also like I’ve said, if there’s anybody that’s earned the right to make the decision on their own terms after what he’s done, what he’s meant to me, to our team, it’s Aaron. Things are trending in the right direction. None of that is new news. We have regular dialogue with Aaron and the goal is to figure out how to get a contract done that he feels good about, that we feel good about and have him continue to do his thing for the Rams leading the way.”
Donald hasn’t been in attendance at organized team activities, which are completely voluntary. He’s not required to be there, and he’s not the only player skipping these workouts.
But when asked if Donald will be at mandatory minicamp next week, McVay said “I think so.”
“That’s the plan right now. So we’ll see. I sure hope so, so I don’t have to answer your questions next week about it,” McVay joked. “No, I think he’ll be here. That’s the plan.”
Donald still has three years left on his deal but he’s set to make just $14.25 million in 2022, so he’d like a raise for the job he’s done in the last few years since signing that deal.