Rams coach Sean McVay is allowing defensive tackle Aaron Donald to decide when he wants to return from injury, rather than setting a specific deadline.
Aaron Donald is a defensive tackle, which means he carries zero standard fantasy value in redraft or dynasty leagues outside of IDP formats—so most managers can file this purely as background noise. That said, the reporting itself is notable for how murky it is: McVay is framing this as an open-ended, player-driven timeline rather than a firm return date, and both sources explicitly say "not ready for him to come back yet." That's speculative, low-confidence language on both fronts, so treat any assumption about Donald suiting up in the near term with real skepticism.
For IDP leagues specifically, this is a mild value dampener. An open-ended, no-deadline return means you can't draft him with any confidence in a specific window of availability, and it raises the possibility this drags on longer than a typical camp injury note would suggest. If you're in an IDP draft prep mode right now, treat Donald as a wait-and-see asset rather than a locked-in early-round DL — his talent and per-game IDP production when healthy are proven, but the price should reflect real return-risk given McVay's vague language, not the assumption he's a guaranteed 15-17 game contributor.
Action-wise: don't drop him if you already roster him in IDP formats, since there's no indication of a long-term or career-ending issue — just uncertainty. But don't reach for him early in IDP drafts either. Monitor beat reporting closer to the season for firmer timeline news before locking in his roster spot or draft slot. Confidence here is low given the hedged, speculative sourcing.
Rams coach Sean McVay says the team is still working through a few things with Aaron Donald on the defensive tackle's potential return from retirement.