Rams All-Pro Tackle Aaron Donald Abruptly Ends His Holdout

Adam Schefter is reporting that Aaron Donald, two-time All-Pro defensive tackle for the Los Angeles Rams and arguably the single best player in the NFL, will reportedly end his holdout and return to the Rams, where he will continue to be wildly underpaid on his rookie scale contract in a league where the average player’s career is over by the midpoint of his fourth professional season.

Donald has not received a new contract, but the two sides will keep working toward one, the source told Schefter. He will not play in Sunday’s season opener against the Indianapolis Colts.

Rams coach Sean McVay acknowledged that they wouldn’t have the defensive tackle in Week 1, saying Saturday that “it’s safe to say that he won’t be a part of this game.”

Had Donald’s holdout continued into the regular season, his absence would have cost him something like $106,000 a week, a not-insignificant amount of money for a guy whose base salary is $1.8 million. Donald was looking to leverage his holdout into a new contract that would make him one of the highest paid players in the NFL. Playing this season under his rookie contract is a fairly enormous risk, given that kind of earning potential. Here’s hoping he stays healthy!