Rams coach Sean McVay expects Aaron Donald to decide on his return after training camp, no immediate decision expected
Aaron Donald's retirement decision remains unresolved, and per McVay's comments there's no indication a call comes before training camp wraps. That's about as far from actionable as fantasy news gets, but it matters for how you approach draft prep on the Rams' defense-adjacent pieces and, more importantly, for how you value Donald himself in any IDP or best-ball IDP formats where he's still on rosters or draft boards.
For draft strategy, the takeaway is patience, not panic. Donald is a future Hall of Famer whose per-snap dominance hasn't been in question — the question is whether he plays at all in 2024. With confidence on this report sitting at 50-70% and both sources describing McVay's expectation rather than any confirmed timeline, you should treat this as speculative scheduling info, not a signal about his health or motivation. Do not draft him as a locked-in starter in IDP leagues until there's real clarity; if your league has IDP flex or defensive tackle slots, he's a "wait and see" pick you can grab in the mid-to-late rounds as a lottery ticket rather than a player you build a defensive core around.
Actionable plan: keep Donald firmly in the speculative/late-round tier for IDP drafts, monitor camp news closely since McVay himself flagged a post-camp decision point, and have a contingency defensive lineman ready to pivot to if Donald opts out. No add/drop urgency exists yet since this is offseason and nothing roster-worthy has changed — just flag him as a name to revisit once training camp news starts trickling in.
The Rams coach doesn't expect the defensive lineman to decide whether he returns until after the team's training camp ends.