Shortly before kickoff in Super Bowl LVI, Rodney Harrison casually slipped in a piece of news that probably lingered in the back of Rams fans’ minds for the duration of the game: Aaron Donald might retire if the Rams beat the Bengals.
Some panicked. Some brushed it off as being in the “lol no chance” category of reports. But Harrison wasn’t wrong. Donald did indeed consider retirement – at least publicly. After the Rams beat the Bengals, Donald had multiple chances to dispel rumors of him potentially walking away from football at 30 years old. He chose not to. He left the door open, which had Rams fans worried.
Donald wasn’t the only member of the Rams who considered walking away. Sean McVay did the same. There were whispers about McVay potentially leaving the sideline in favor of the broadcast booth leading up to the Super Bowl, which seemed ludicrous considering he’s only 36 years old.
But like Donald, McVay didn’t dismiss those rumors. Shortly after the Super Bowl, McVay was asked point-blank if he would return to coach the Rams in 2022. His answer was, “We’ll see.” Would a 36-year-old coach really leave the team he just won his first Super Bowl with, a year after pushing for the Rams to acquire Matthew Stafford?
It seemed highly unlikely, but sometimes, money talks. And when it came to broadcasting, that talk was loud. According to one report, Amazon may have offered McVay as much as $100 million for five years when the two sides were scheduled to meet.
FOX was also interested in McVay, but the coach spurned both opportunities and chose to return to the Rams’ sideline.
McVay has committed to coaching and is in line for an extension, which is expected to be done before training camp, according to Peter King of NBC Sports. Donald hasn’t yet confirmed that he’ll be back in 2022, but Rams GM Les Snead and McVay both confirmed this week that the team has had talks with Donald about a contract extension.
Surely, he’s not going to walk away from another payday, especially being only 30 years old and still in the prime of his career.
Again, money talks.
And it’s why these two situations were partly about leverage.
It wasn’t necessarily apples to apples, though. Donald didn’t have an opportunity on the table where he could make $20 million per year in another profession like McVay. His retirement consideration was more about accomplishing everything a defensive player possibly could: eight Pro Bowls, seven All-Pro selections, three Defensive Player of the Year awards, Defensive Rookie of the Year, and now a Super Bowl champion.
If Donald retired today, he’d be a first-ballot Hall of Famer. Even though he’s just 30 years old, it wouldn’t be unprecedented for a player his age to walk away. Calvin Johnson retired when he was 30 after just nine NFL seasons; he went on to make the Hall of Fame, too. Ali Marpet just retired at 28 despite being a premier guard. Patrick Willis retired at 30, Andrew Luck was 29 when he retired, as was Rob Gronkowski (before returning in 2020).
It would have been shocking if Donald retired, but he wouldn’t have been the first to go out on his terms with a long list of accolades and, most importantly, his health. The Rams probably knew he might actually walk away, which is why they’re now negotiating a new contract for Donald.
With McVay, it’s a different story. He had a legitimate opportunity to go make more money in a different profession that requires less work. A lot less work. He loves coaching, but with a desire to start a family and have better work-life balance, broadcasting offered him another option to remain in football and, well, make a ton of money doing it.
McVay may have turned down a lucrative TV offer, but he’s also on the verge of upping his reported $8.5 million salary – and probably not by a couple million per year. The Rams couldn’t let him leave after all he’s accomplished in Los Angeles, so like Donald, they’re going to reward him with a well-deserved contract extension (and raise).
Their retirement talk wasn’t exclusively about leverage. They both had legitimate reasons to walk away from the NFL in the primes of their careers. But by not committing to the 2022 season, they put the Rams in a spot where a raise was the best option for everyone involved.
