Aaron Donald officially back

[gjv]

I have to say the Rams have put together a star studded roster. The rest of their roster must be playing for free.

[BeyondTheProcess]

I can hear his hamstring popping from all the way over here.... 

[Ridgewaycynic2013]

14 hours ago, BillsFooteball said:

On paper do the Rams have one of the best starting rosters we have ever seen? 

 

14 hours ago, Buffalo716 said:

I mean it's pretty old 

 

No I don't even think they have the number one roster in the NFL.. have a bunch of names over 30

 

I do not expect them to win the Super bowl

Price of training table beef is so high that it's cheaper to buy Ensure. ™️©️

*
😁

[PoundingDog]

2 hours ago, Neo said:

 

+500

 

Super Team, indeed, but the 49ers, Pats, and Cowboys were +200, +250 and +250 in ‘94, ‘07 and ‘72, respectively.  Different regular season and playoff formats, of course.

 

I don’t bet.

You are talking about seasons right? None of those you quoted won a superbowl but close.

[Rich Stadium Original]

In 2022, the Bills beat the then champion Rams in the opener like 31-10.  A much younger and not yet retired Donald was held to just 2 tackles and 1 sack..pretty much a non-factor.  Of course he didn't have Garrett playing next to him

[Neo]

26 minutes ago, PoundingDog said:

You are talking about seasons right? None of those you quoted won a superbowl but close.

 

26 minutes ago, PoundingDog said:

 

Those were pre-season odds against the field … based on a web search.

 

 

 

 

Edited August 31 by Neo

[Royale with Cheese]

I want to say "2 seasons off and he's 35....."

But he has one of those legendary workouts and still stayed in great shape.  I think his cardio will be the only thing we see a decline in.  So he just plays less snaps but I think he's going to still be a difference while in there.

 

 

[JP51]

16 hours ago, cle23 said:

 

Who is better? I know it's "on paper", but who is better in your opinion?

Not the original question asker... but I think the Rams defense on paper is excellent, I am interested to see what several years off and no TC has done to Donald, like does he immediately pull a groin, calf, or Hammy and have it limit him the whole season, how long to shake off the rust, or did several years out of the game let him recover to mitigate the age difference... time will tell...  If you are asking who has the best scariest defensive roster,  I am picking the Texans. 

[eball]

Can’t wait for our W5 matchup out in LA. That game comes after the “first quarter” of the season when teams are settling into “who they are.”

 

It will be an excellent measuring stick for both squads.

 

[Maynard]

17 hours ago, Einstein said:

 

They have a GM that lives by the motto “screw the future, we play for the now” and I personally love it.

I’d love to have Snead. Guy has a serious eye for talent as well. 

[Rigotz]

16 hours ago, Stenbar said:

Season doesn't matter now. Game over..Easy choice. Super Bowl guaranteed 

 

The Rams are +500 favorites to win the Super Bowl.

 

Over the past 30 years, preseason favorites with odds of +500 or better have gone 0-20.

 

You can cry and go home. I'll play the odds and try to enjoy myself.

[Ridgewaycynic2013]

Darnold reports to the team, collects signing bonus (bogus?)

[T master]

Where the H**L do they get the money & how do they fit all that under the cap ? Their money guy must be a freakin genie of some sort I figured by now they'd be like the Saints were a few years ago upside down in every way when it comes to their cap situation !! 

 

Dawkins & Brown had better break out their box of Wheaties before this game I'd say they are gonna need it !!

Edited August 31 by T master

[BigDingus]

17 hours ago, Buffalo716 said:

I mean it's pretty old 

 

No I don't even think they have the number one roster in the NFL.. have a bunch of names over 30

 

I do not expect them to win the Super bowl

 

That's really only an issue if you're seeing a major decline. 

 

- Stafford is 38, yet he's coming off his best season ever & is the reigning MVP (Tom Brady won his last Super Bowl at 43.5 years old)

 

- Myles Garrett turns 31 in December, but he's coming off breaking the single season sack record with 23 sacks!

 

- Puka Nacua is 25. He had an absurd season with 129 receptions, 1,715 yards & 10 TDs (2nd behind JSN)

 

- Davante Adams turns 34 in December, but he's coming off a year where he lead the league in receiving TDs with 14, while also talking on nearly 800 yards.

 

- Trent McDuffie's about to be 26. He's a 2 x All-Pro, though he did miss 4 games last year. 

 

- Kyren Williams just turned 26. Last season he had 1,250 rush yards & 10 TDs, plus 280 rec yards & 3 rec TDs.

 

- Aaron Donald is 35 & retired at 32. But he's always been a monster of a player & "only" played 10 seasons. He's widely considered the best DT to ever play & one of the best defensive players ever.

 

- Byron Young is 28 years old, coming off a 12 sack season & Pro Bowl appearance. He's a bit older for someone who only played 3 seasons, but he's still got plenty left in the tank.

 

 

 

So out of their best players, 4 of them are over 30 and 4 of them are under 30. If those over 30s were struggling, I wouldn't put much stock in them. But given how some are coming off career years, I definitely think they're legit. 

[Bleeding Bills Blue]

35 minutes ago, T master said:

Where the H**L do they get the money & how do they fit all that under the cap ? Their money guy must be a freakin genie of some sort I figured by now they'd be like the Saints were a few years ago upside down in every way when it comes to their cap situation !! 

 

Dawkins & Brown had better break out their box of Wheaties before this game I'd say they are gonna need it !!

 

Garrett mcduffie and watson all have backloaded multi-year deals.  McDuffie and Garrett deals seem to escalate around the time they expect Stafford to leave.  Adams is a free agent next year when puka's contract comes up.  A number of free agents on the offensive line coming in 2027 too but they likely try to build around a couple years of rookie QB contract in 2028-2029.  

 

They'll have big salary numbers next season and the year after, which you can then use to borrow space from future seasons if you need the space for certain players.  They had a couple of hugely successful drafts, but now those good players will need to be paid so we'll see what they look like. 

 

I think they're probably somewhat of a NFC super bowl favorite this season though for sure.  Stafford coming off an MVP season, and kept most of the offense together, while adding multiple DPOY winners on defense is going to make them a really tough out.  

 

Food for thought though - 4 of their 5 best players are Stafford, Adams, Donald, Garrett and all are 31+.  Injuries tend to crop up more as players age, and say a shoulder injury to stafford probably derails the entire season.  

Edited August 31 by Bleeding Bills Blue

[mjt328]

3 hours ago, BigDingus said:

So out of their best players, 4 of them are over 30 and 4 of them are under 30. If those over 30s were struggling, I wouldn't put much stock in them. But given how some are coming off career years, I definitely think they're legit. 

 

One thing to consider.

If guys are coming off career years (Stafford, Garrett, Nacua)... they are almost certain to see some regression.  

 

Stafford is more likely to be a Top 10 guy like he's always been, rather than the league MVP.

Garrett is more likely to log his normal 15 sacks than 23 again.

 

With Donald, I really question whether he can regain anywhere close to his pre-retirement form.  Yes, he looks like he's in fantastic shape.  But that doesn't mean he can just go back to pushing around 300+ pound athletes, and dealing with the brutal wear/tear of a 17 game football season.

 

Adams is clearly on the downside of his career, despite the fact that he was still putting up good stats in fantasy football last year.

 

The Rams are Super Bowl favorites.  And I think that is completely fair.

But they still need A LOT of things to go right for it all to work out in the end.  

 

[Goin Breakdown]

3 hours ago, BigDingus said:

 

That's really only an issue if you're seeing a major decline. 

 

- Stafford is 38, yet he's coming off his best season ever & is the reigning MVP (Tom Brady won his last Super Bowl at 43.5 years old)

 

- Myles Garrett turns 31 in December, but he's coming off breaking the single season sack record with 23 sacks!

 

- Puka Nacua is 25. He had an absurd season with 129 receptions, 1,715 yards & 10 TDs (2nd behind JSN)

 

- Davante Adams turns 34 in December, but he's coming off a year where he lead the league in receiving TDs with 14, while also talking on nearly 800 yards.

 

- Trent McDuffie's about to be 26. He's a 2 x All-Pro, though he did miss 4 games last year. 

 

- Kyren Williams just turned 26. Last season he had 1,250 rush yards & 10 TDs, plus 280 rec yards & 3 rec TDs.

 

- Aaron Donald is 35 & retired at 32. But he's always been a monster of a player & "only" played 10 seasons. He's widely considered the best DT to ever play & one of the best defensive players ever.

 

- Byron Young is 28 years old, coming off a 12 sack season & Pro Bowl appearance. He's a bit older for someone who only played 3 seasons, but he's still got plenty left in the tank.

 

 

 

So out of their best players, 4 of them are over 30 and 4 of them are under 30. If those over 30s were struggling, I wouldn't put much stock in them. But given how some are coming off career years, I definitely think they're legit. 

Stop that I'm  trying to act like I don't care here. 

[jkeerie]

Thought this was pretty funny!

[Gregg]

The one thing Donald will have going in his favor is he will see more 1 on 1 situations as Garrett will be the one facing two blockers. 

[BuffaloBillyG]

On 8/31/2026 at 6:18 AM, gjv said:

I have to say the Rams have put together a star studded roster. The rest of their roster must be playing for free.

I was looking at the Rams roster and how much they count against the cap. Their numbers against the cap, Myles Garrett and Aaron Donald COMBINED only count $18.4M against their cap. Or, roughly the same amount we are paying for Bosa and Milano not to play for us. Puka, easily a top 3 WR counts less than $6M against the cap. 

 

I think Les Snead is as good or possibly even better than Howie Roseman.