As we saw this offseason, the Los Angeles Rams have never been afraid to move on from marquee players. They did it with Jalen Ramsey, Bobby Wagner, Allen Robinson and Leonard Floyd this year alone after previously parting ways with the likes of Jared Goff, Todd Gurley and Johnny Hekker in recent years.
What if Aaron Donald is next?
The Rams have not indicated one time that they plan to trade Donald, one of the best players in NFL history. Les Snead has called him a building block in this roster remodel, someone the team will lean on.
But if the first half of the season goes terribly, they could consider trading him – at least, that’s what FOX Sports’ Jason McIntyre believes. He’s not citing sources or reporting anything, but McIntyre sees a scenario where the Rams try to get as much as they can for Donald before the season ends, knowing they may not be able to compete in 2023.
“I love the Rams, I enjoyed the Super Bowl run. It’s over. I can see them being one of the worst teams in the league and thus, they decide to pull the trigger and trade Aaron Donald – basically their only good defender,” McIntyre said.
"The winner of the NFC will be the New Orleans Saints."
— @jasonrmcintyre unveils his 5 bold NFL predictions pic.twitter.com/zOQuCm1x9M
— Herd w/Colin Cowherd (@TheHerd) July 5, 2023
When you put aside the emotional aspect of Donald in Los Angeles, the logic isn’t completely outrageous. If the Rams start the year 1-5 and suffer another rash of injuries, they might feel it’s best to sell before the trade deadline.
And looking at their roster, there’s no one with greater trade value to a Super Bowl contender than Donald. If the Rams can get a first-round pick and maybe even more for Donald, Snead would at least have to consider it – especially knowing Donald might just retire after the season anyway.
And as badly as Donald would want to finish his career with the Rams, perhaps he’d be on board with leaving a rebuilding team for one that he could potentially win a Super Bowl with.
“If you can sell Aaron Donald high now, at the trade deadline, someone’s willing to give you a first-round pick, maybe a lot more than that, I think you’re in a window where, hey, this team needs Aaron Donald. They want to make a Super Bowl run,” McIntyre proposed. “And the Rams decide, let’s just reboot, get the picks – I know they said ‘forget them picks’ before – they bottom out either this year or next and they move on from Aaron Donald. It’s a scenario. It could happen. It’s crazy.”
It most likely isn’t going to happen, but McIntyre isn’t the first one to suggest the Rams could consider moving their best player if the first half of the season goes off the rails.
