No easing back in
The Los Angeles Rams listed Aaron Donald as their starting defensive end for next Thursday’s opener against the San Francisco 49ers in Melbourne, Australia. He spent two seasons retired and played no preseason football last month. He starts anyway.
The designation drops Braden Fiske to a backup role. Fiske started 16 of 17 games last season and now waits behind a man who last played competitively in January 2024.
Kobie Turner takes the other defensive end spot. Turner collected seven sacks in 17 starts last season and has 24 across three years in Los Angeles. Myles Garrett, who won Defensive Player of the Year twice while playing defensive end for Cleveland over nine seasons, appears at outside linebacker in the same front seven.
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What the Rams are betting on
Los Angeles announced the deal on Sunday: one year, $20 million, climbing toward $30 million if the playoff incentives land. Donald skipped all three preseason games while the coaching staff worked him back into shape privately.
The résumé explains the money. Ten seasons, all of them with this franchise. One hundred and eleven sacks. Eight first-team All-Pro selections. A Pro Bowl call in every single year he played, which almost nobody manages. Three Defensive Player of the Year awards. He was on the field when the Rams beat Cincinnati 23-20 in Super Bowl LVI after the 2021 campaign.
The defence he walks back into
The Rams did not collapse without him. They reached the NFC Divisional Round two seasons ago and the NFC Championship Game last season, where the Seattle Seahawks beat them on the way to the title. The pass rush has been the strength of the roster throughout.
Now they stack Donald, Garrett and Turner in the same unit and open the season 16,000 kilometres from Los Angeles. Donald is 35 and has not taken a live snap in twenty months. San Francisco will find out early whether that matters.
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