Los Angeles Rams Aaron Donald superstar may have just tipped his hand toward a quiet retirement.
Donald changed his biography on his verified social media channels to include the phrase, “former NFL defensive linemen [sic] for the Rams #99.”
CBS Sports first noticed the change:
wait, what pic.twitter.com/k2BjG7VYux
— NFL on CBS 🏈 (@NFLonCBS) January 15, 2023
“Wait, what?” the channel remarked.
The Rams and Donald have yet to officially comment on any such retirement, though Donald publicly considered such a move last offseason after the Rams defeated Joe Burrow and the Cincinnati Bengals in Super Bowl LVI.
The Rams quickly restructured Donald’s contract to make him the highest-paid non-QB in NFL history.
“I’m locked back in to go get us another ring — why not!?” Donald said upon inking that new deal. “Getting the chills thinking about it. Let’s go to work.”
Donald appeared in 11 games in 2022-23. He finished with five sacks, 27 tackles, and one forced fumble. The then-St. Louis Rams drafted Donald with the 13th overall pick in the 2014 NFL Draft.
If this is the end for Donald’s legendary career, he would finish with 103 sacks, 312 solo tackles and 24 forced fumbles in his eight-year career. Of course, what makes Donald such a weapon is what he does that doesn’t make it onto the stat sheet, too.
Only time will tell Donald actually retires, but if he does, he will go down as one of the best defensive linemen in NFL history.
