How serious was Aaron Donald with retiring this offseason? It turns out it was pretty freaking serious.
According to Ian Rapoport, the Rams defensive tackle was serious enough about retirement to send an official retirement letter to the Rams on May 9.
The report added that the letter was sent because it appeared the two sides had reached an impasse in contract negotiations. Donald wanted a raise but didn’t want to give up any additional years of control to the Rams.
The timing in May was also crucial because it would have been more damaging to the Rams’ cap for 2022 before June 1. However, before the letter was sent, the two sides sat down for one final meeting and hammered out a deal.
Donald had three years remaining on his deal.
In 2021, Donald appeared in all 17 games for the Rams, recording 84 total tackles, 19 tackles for loss, 12.5 sacks, four forced fumbles, and four pass deflections.
