Aaron Donald Would Have Retired If Sean McVay Didn’t Return to Rams

The star defensive tackle said he doesn't want to play for any other coach.

After the Rams won Super Bowl LVI, there were rumors regarding whether either Aaron Donald or Sean McVay would retire instead of returning to Los Angeles for the 2022 season. Ultimately, both decided to come back and try to repeat, but it could have been a situation where either both returned or neither did.

On Saturday, Donald explained that had McVay decided to step away, he wouldn’t have returned to play with a different coach.

“Not at all. Not at all,” Donald said, via NFL.com. “If Sean ain’t here—I told Sean when he first got here. We came up with some things early and I first told him as long as he's the head coach here, I want to continue to build my legacy with him. As long as he’s here and I got the ability to still play at a high level, I’m going to be here. When he’s gone and it’s all said and done, that probably will be when I’m hanging it up, too.”

Donald’s possible retirement seemed a little more realistic than McVay’s, that is until the Rams gave their star defensive tackle a historic contract extension.

The two have worked together since McVay was hired in 2017, and have done nothing but succeed since. Donald was already a star, but he took his game to another level and won three Defensive Player of the Year awards in five years with McVay.

The Super Bowl victory was the final piece of the puzzle for Donald’s career. However, with McVay back, the two will try to build on what they’ve accomplished thus far together.

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