Aaron Donald would have retired if Sean McVay didn't return to Rams

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After the Los Angeles Rams won the Super Bowl, conversations regarding the franchise's next big moves surfaced rather quickly.

The future of star defensive tackle Aaron Donald's and coach Sean McVay's careers were briefly in question, amid murmurs that one or the other could abruptly retire. 

They've both returned – Donald with a new contract and McVay in line for one – with hopes to run it back, but there was a possibility that L.A. would have neither on its sideline for the 2022 season. Donald told NFL.com that he wasn't willing to play for another head coach.

"Not at all. Not at all," Donald said. "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 retirement would have made more sense than McVay's, considering the 31-year-old defensive stalwart is coming off his eighth season and seventh-straight All-Pro campaign. Instead, Donald received a historic extension, where he will roughly double his yearly salary in 2022, double it again in 2023, and get a $40 million raise over three years.

Donald had plenty of reasons to want to return to the Rams. He and McVay have worked together since 2017, accomplishing incredible feats as a coach/player tandem. Despite already being considered a star, Donald took his game to new heights under McVay, winning three Defensive Player of the Year awards in a four-year span (2017, 2018, 2020). 

He has 98 sacks in his career, the most for a defensive tackle in his first eight seasons in NFL history.

The only significant thing Donald didn't accomplish entering the 2021 season was win a Super Bowl, and now he has that under his belt. But as his performance has proven over the years, Donald isn't one to rest on his laurels. 

"It's always going to be motivation to do everything you can to get back (to the Super Bowl)," Donald said. "That's the ultimate goal. That's what you work for. When you're grinding and out here working right now, that's in the back of your mind. To try to do everything you can to have a great season and try to be the last team standing."