The NFL’s offseason drumbeat is turning into a full-on camp soundtrack, and this week brought a little bit of everything: Aaron Donald buzz, a pair of big-money extensions, and the first real steps toward training camp across the league.
The loudest chatter centers on Donald and whether the Los Angeles Rams might get one more run out of one of the sport’s most dominant defenders. The Rams already made a headline-grabbing move earlier this offseason by trading for reigning Defensive Player of the Year Myles Garrett, but the speculation around Donald has only grown. Donald spent his entire career with the Rams before his final season in 2023, and the rumor mill has pushed the idea that a return is only a matter of time.
A recent report added a little more texture to that talk, saying Donald "has been very happy in retirement," though he also "wants to be the best version of himself" and may not make his plans for the upcoming season clear before Rams players report to training camp on Saturday. Donald is a Super Bowl champion, a three-time Defensive Player of the Year and an obvious Hall of Fame selection. He’s also only 35, which is why any comeback would instantly change the Rams’ outlook and make them even more of a Super Bowl favorite before the season starts.
Elsewhere, the Packers and Dolphins made sure to keep important pieces in place. Green Bay had already taken care of quarterback Jordan Love’s receiving options by signing Jayden Reed to a three-year, $50.25 million deal and Christian Watson to a four-year, $92 million extension. On Monday, the Packers turned to the other side of the ball and locked up 2022 first-round pick Devonte Wyatt on a three-year, $57 million extension.
Wyatt has 16 sacks in his Packers career and posted four sacks in just 10 games last season, but the deal comes with some risk after the fractured fibula and torn ankle ligament in his left leg.
In Miami, former Packers defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley is now running the show as head coach, and the Dolphins followed through on their offseason plan to keep core players together by extending All-Pro linebacker Jordyn Brooks on Tuesday. The new deal is for three years and can be worth up to $51.3 million.
Brooks, 28, is now the sixth-highest-paid linebacker in the league after earning All-Pro and Pro Bowl recognition last season. For Miami, the move fit squarely into the bigger plan of keeping its key players in the building, and Brooks’ production made it a decision they couldn’t really walk away from.
Training camps are now starting to take over the calendar. The Seahawks and 49ers got the ball rolling last week, and over the next several days rookies and veterans will report around the country as teams shift from offseason work to preseason preparation and the grind of sorting out 53-man rosters.
There’s no shortage of plot lines to follow, either. Patrick Mahomes is working back from a torn ACL and torn LCL, the Seahawks are entering a title defense under new ownership, rookies are trying to make their mark, and quarterback competitions remain unsettled in more than a few places.
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The timing leaves Miami in a holding pattern with a player the organization clearly wants available when he is ready, but not before. If Bell is not close enough to a return soon, the Dolphins could shift him to the reserve/non-football injury list, a move that would cost him at least the first four games of the season and add another layer of frustration to a process already moving slower than anyone around the team would prefer. [Read more 🡒]