Rams can reap worthwhile benefit if Aaron Donald delays his decision

If it happens, the announcement of Aaron Donald's return to the NFL will spark a block party among Los Angeles Rams fans. It won't even be so much about whatever he does to boost the team's Super Bowl odds; having a legend back in the building and ready to dominate is exciting in and of itself.

Per NFL insider Adam Schefter, however, it might be a bit before we hear anything on that front:

"What's going on right now is that he's trying to get back into football shape. My understanding is it's going to be a while before we hear a final decision about him coming back. When he comes back he's going to want to be Aaron Donald," Shefter said Tuesday in an appearance on The Pat McAfee Show. 

"It sounds like it's not going to be a quick verdict from him, that he's going to be ramping up all during training camp. This may go towards the start of the regular season before we hear that he has or hasn't signed with the team. He's going through it all right now. This is his own pre-training camp routine. … He wants to be Aaron Donald, or he's not going to come back."

That could actually be a positive thing for the Rams. Naturally, they will welcome Donald back whenever he feels like returning. A head start on integrating him into the defensive scheme of coordinator Chris Shula, who joined the staff the year after Donald retired, would no doubt offer its own advantages.

But it's also true that if/when Donald returns, he will be a focal point of the defense. He will need reps in practice, and that will come at the expense of young players the Rams are still trying to figure out. 

Donald delaying return gives Rams chance to assess young players

In many ways, the sooner Donald returns, the better, but any delay will allow the team to allocate more time and attention to seeing what they have in the likes of Tyler Davis, Ty Hamilton, and Tim Keenan III - all of whom are cut or trade candidates if Donald does come back - elsewhere on the defensive front.

If the Rams carry five defensive linemen, as they did last season, only one of the above trio would likely make the cut. Davis would seem to be the frontrunner based on proven experience, but perhaps LA wants to see whether Hamilton, a 2025 fifth-round pick, or Keenan, a 2026 seventh-rounder, can compete for a similar role this season. 

The latter two are, after all, more recent draft picks, which also means they have additional years of contract control. If possible, the Rams may rather avoid bailing on those investments just yet. 

What's more, Davis, a third-year sixth-rounder, is likely the only one who would return any sort of trade value, given his more established role as a rotational contributor. At the same time, established producers are exactly what the Rams need to support a Super-Bowl-contending roster. That could ultimately be bad news for Hamilton.

In the end, such questions will be best answered in training camp, when the pads go on and the team will get a live look at each player's potential for future development as well as present-day production. The more reps there are to go around, the more informed decisions the Rams can make.

If Donald isn't quite ready to sign on the dotted line, that will buy them some extra time to evaluate young talent further down the depth chart.

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