by John Turney 
Earlier in the summer, Aaron Donald, a future first-ballot Hall of Famer, teased via social media (with Michael Brockers hinting at it in early June) with a comeback, possibly prompted by the Rams' trade for Myles Garrett. Maybe it was, maybe it wasn't but regardless, he's back, coming out of retirement to play for the Rams on a 1-year, $20 million deal with playoff incentives up to $30 million.
There have been comebacks before, even after sitting out. Some of the retirements were just sitting out a year because of a contract dispute. Gino Marchetti came out to play backup defensive line as a favor to his owner when the Colts had injuries to their defensive line in 1966.
Bronko Nagurski came out of retirement to play linebacker (mostly) during World War II after sitting out five years. Philip Rivers was out for four years until he played last fall. In 1998, Steve DeBerg came back to be a backup to Chris Chandler on the Falcons. Rivers was an emergency signing.
There was John Riggins (Washington, 1981): Walked away after 1979 over a contract dispute, returned in 1981, and was Super Bowl XVII MVP after the 1982 season. Frequently ranked as the most successful second act.
Dallas defensive end Ed Jones retired to box professionally. After a year he came back and became a Pro Bowler. Of course, Randall Cunningham (Vikings, 1998): Retired in 1995, out for a season, signed in 1997 then had a huge 15-1 season with Randy Moss before fading.
Then there was Rob Gronkowski (Buccaneers, 2020): One year off after New England, then two productive seasons with Brady in Tampa and a Super Bowl.
Eric Weddle (Rams, 2021): Out two years, signed for playoffs in 2021 and Rams won a Super Bowl.
Deion Sanders: Three years away, then 2004–05 with the Ravens as a nickelback, predominantly. Charles Haley retired for a year in 1997, then came back for 1998 and 1999. Reggie White retired for a year then signed for the 2000 season with the Panthers
But this one feels different. Of the names mentioned above, only John Riggins and Ed Jones were stars after missing time. Others were stopgaps or backups or at best solid contributors. And they came back for multiple seasons. Donald seems to be a one-year thing at the moment.
When Donald left, he was still elite but maybe has a chance to be elite again. He has been out for just two years and is now 35 years old, but even so, there are questions to be asked. Some for which we have no answers.
Some are: what his role will be- starter or rotational player? Pass rush specialist? How will the layoff affect his skill set? We shall see.
Another question is how it will affect his legacy. Now, you can make a case that he's the best defensive tackle of all time. Some might still insist on Bob Lilly or Joe Greene, but a reasonable person could make a case that Donald, as it sits now, is first.
But what if he's just average this year? Will one average season change his status?
Probably not. There is reason to suspect he might not be the best defensive tackle in the game this season, but he still might be pretty excellent. Will an added Super Bowl ring (if achieved) help move him up in the minds of those who might still think Lilly or Greene (or Page or Olsen) are tops?
Again, probably not. Another ring, and let's assume at least a good season, would not move him up in those cases. Or maybe it would. Some people do put a lot of weight on rings, even for defensive linemen.
But football is better for him to make this attempt. It's good for the game; it makes for an interesting story along the season. He might still have "it," and we will see him add to his sack totals his stuffs, pressures, all of that, even if "compilative" in nature or cumulative to use a non-invented word. Not sure 120 career sacks versus 111 makes a huge difference.
But he is at risk of not being a Pro Bowler for the first time in his career. He played ten years and was voted to ten. Eleven for eleven is possible, but if he totals maybe 5-6-7 sacks or so, he could miss the voting, and there are no alternates this year so no chance of being a first alternate and then being named as a replacement, which would have been theoretical if the rules had not changed.
If he plays mostly on passing downs, perhaps it could affect how the voting goes in December because we know stats matter.
But these things are on the margins. Or maybe 850 career pressures versus 788 (per Pro Football Focus), etc. He might be able to reach 100 career run/pass stuffs, Nick Webster's star) if he plays enough on run downs, making him a rare 100 sack/100 stuff guy; that is a wait-and-see. There may be others.
Buckle up, though. A rush set of Myles Garrett, Aaron Donald, Byron Young and Braden Fiske/Kobie Turner will be a treat to watch, and if the new secondary can give better coverage than the last couple of years, this unit could be special. But we realize the measure will be if Rams can get over the hump, something they have not been able to do since 2021, when they won the Super Bowl in Los Angeles.
Where is the Big Game this year?
Career Stats:
Key:
No comments:
Post a Comment