Aaron Donald recieved a huge present that meant so much to him

More than a day later, the NFL world is still processing the shocking retirement of Los Angeles Rams star defensive tackle Aaron Donald. Now that his career is officially over (barring a change of heart in the future), It’s not an exaggeration to say that Donald is arguably the greatest defensive player in NFL history. The No. 13 overall pick in the 2014 NFL Draft finishes his decade-long career with 111 sacks, and even that doesn’t do justice to his impact on opposing offense’s game plans. Some of his endless accolades include eight first-team All-Pro selections, three Defensive Player of the Year awards and a Super Bowl LVI ring.

There’s no replacing a legend such as Donald, but at the very least, he helped soften the blow on the way out. Just before his retirement, Donald restructured his contract with the Rams to help free up cap space, which made his retirement that much more shocking since restructures usually ensure that a player will remain with his team. According to Pro Football Talk, the Rams moved Donald’s $5 million guaranteed roster bonus to a signing bonus and converted most of his $10 million salary to a signing bonus to drop it to the minimum $1.21 million. In total, the Rams saved about $9.2 million in cap space with the restructure.

Additionally, the Rams will likely process his retirement as a post-June 1 move in order to spread the cap charge out over multiple years, rather than absorbing it all this season.

To be clear, Donald is still getting all the money he was already owed, just the way in which he’ll receive it has changed.