What Aaron Donald Texted Pat McAfee After The Myles Garrett Trade Has NFL Fans Buzzing

This article was originally published on Total Pro Sports.

Is Aaron Donald coming back?

As expected, news of Myles Garrett’s blockbuster trade to the Rams sent the NFL world into a frenzy. Those in the AFC North celebrated, while contenders in the NFC can’t believe what they just saw. The Rams confirmed Monday that they have a deal in place to acquire Garrett.

The Cleveland Browns traded two-time Defensive Player of the Year Myles Garrett to the Los Angeles Rams in exchange for young pass rusher Jared Verse, a 2027 first-round pick, a 2028 second-round pick, and a 2029 third-round pick.

Garrett set an NFL single-season record with 23 sacks in 2025 and won his second Defensive Player of the Year honor. He made a trade demand public in early 2025 and vowed not to return to Cleveland. However, he soon got signed to an extension in March 2025 that included more than $122 million in guaranteed money.

Now that Garrett is in Los Angeles, a stunning comeback by Aaron Donald cannot be taken off the table.

Aaron Donald Doesn’t Rule Out NFL Return

The Cleveland Browns and Los Angeles Rams agreed to terms on a blockbuster trade that will send two-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year Myles Garrett to the Rams.

Pat McAfee revealed that he reached out to Donald, and the Rams legend said that the deal “for sure got me thinking.” During Get Up on Tuesday, ESPN’s Adam Schefter discussed the possibility of Donald teaming up with Garrett.

While money would be a deciding factor, he isn’t ruling it out.

“Again, we could talk about this, and I brought up the idea to the Rams yesterday, and they said right now, they’ve spent all their money. They’ve allocated it to Trent McDuffie, who became the highest-paid cornerback in football. Myles Garrett is being paid on a four-year, $160 million contract that he’s going to rework to more favorable terms for the Rams, but they’re paying an awful lot of money. Another team called and asked me yesterday, could the Rams sign Aaron Donald? And I said, ‘They’re out of money.’ And he said, ‘In this league, you can always find money.’ And it reminded me of what the teams said when they were calling me in late March, when they said, the Browns are trading Myles Garrett, and the Browns said, we’re not trading Myles Garrett. Teams say the Rams might now make a run at Aaron Donald.”

Aaron Donald walked away when he was still pretty close to his peak. The 2023 season saw him finish with 8 sacks and 16 tackles for loss, earning Pro Bowl honors for the 10th time and an eighth All-Pro nod.