NFL reporter Peter King has revealed what Los Angeles Rams star defensive tackle Aaron Donald has said about his future in the league. 

Aaron Donald has established himself as arguably the greatest defender that the game of American Football has ever seen. Since entering the league in 2014 when the then-St Louis Rams, he has 441 combined tackles, 226 QB hits, 150 tackles for loss and 98 sacks which have turned into 8 Pro Bowl appearances, 7 First-team All-Pro honours and 3 NFL Defensive Player of the Year awards, before finally getting his well-deserved Super Bowl this past season.

However, his future in the league was up in the air for a large part of this offseason. Ahead of their Super Bowl victory over the Cincinnati Bengals in February, reports emerged that he could have retired if the Rams were victorious, perhaps as a way of saying ‘I’ve done all there is to do’. 

Obviously they did win, and the idea of retiring cropped up again in the offseason, as he appeared on the I Am Athlete podcast (via Ari Meirov), that he was ‘at peace’ with the idea of moving on from the Rams, which could have spelled retirement.

All worked out in the end

That talk was put to bed though this offseason when he and the Rams were finally able to come to terms over a new deal for him, keeping him in Los Angeles through the 2024 season.  

The Rams are hoping to do something that hasn’t been done since the New England Patriots sides of 2003 and 2004, which is to win a Super Bowl in back-to-back seasons, and you can certainly make the argument that he will be the most important player on the field in their attempts to make it happen.

But what does his future look like beyond that? The person with the answer to that question is Peter King.

What’s he said?

Speaking to King for his Football Morning In America column whilst at Rams training camp recently, Donald revealed that he doesn’t intend this season to be his last, and that he looks to honour the contract that the Rams have just handed down to him: 

“Donald told me he plans to play at least through the end of the 2023 season. “I got a two-year commitment right now, so I’m going to do everything I can while I’m here to help the organization win and be successful. I’m gonna last as long as I can, as long as I can play at a high level,” Donald said.”

Whether that ends up being the case, we’ll have to wait and see, but the fact he has teased retirement at us before does mean that you have to take whatever he says with regards to his future with a pinch of salt. 

But I think we can all agree that regardless of how many more numbers he puts up in the future, his legacy is already secured and a place in Canton is all-but assured at this stage.