With the season over, many of the Los Angeles Rams’ veteran players may now begin to worry about their futures.
Speaking with star defensive tackle Aaron Donald about whether or not this past season was his last is probably the most important thing to do. Considering that the future Hall of Famer will turn 33 in May, retirement concerns are definitely a real possibility.
“I think those conversations occur at the appropriate time,” McVay stated. “There’s so much emotion that takes place right after a game and after a season.”
After being selected by the Rams with the 13th overall pick in the 2014 NFL Draft, Donald has developed into one of the best defensive players in league history. In every season that he has played in the Pro Bowl, he has won three times in a row as the defensive player of the year.If Donald retired right now, he would be mentioned with the likes of Lawrence Taylor, who is arguably the best defensive player to ever play the game. But his future with the team is not set in stone, as Donald has not made any recent announcement regarding his retirement from football.
In order to give his star defensive tackle more time to process the emotions from the team’s defeat to the Detroit Lions, head coach Sean McVay wants to wait a little longer to speak with him about his future with the team.
During his press conference at the end of the season, McVay compared the circumstances to those of Philadelphia Eagles center Jason Kelce.
“Even I was reading earlier, you see [Eagles center] Jason Kelce, there’s all these assumptions and things like that,” McVay stated. “I think you give guys the chance to really just digest the season, coaches and players alike, and then we’ll address all those things at the right time.”