You probably heard about Aaron Donald’s return to the Los Angeles Rams, but much more than that happened around the NFL this weekend.
Donald grabbed headlines with his return to the Rams, but another former star returned to the team where he experienced his brightest days. Elsewhere, teams weren’t afraid to stash quarterbacks.
In the final week of preseason action, a couple of contenders unlocked intriguing quarterbacks, including the reigning champions and their potential secret weapon behind Sam Darnold.
Here are our takeaways from the weekend in the NFL:
1.
Eric D. Williams: Sean McVay’s wait is finally over, as game wrecker Aaron Donald officially ended his two-year retirement by joining the Los Angeles Rams during the team’s final roster cuts on Sunday. Donald signed a one-year deal that could be worth up to $30 million.
Donald participated in individual drills on Sunday as he reacclimates to playing football. McVay said he has not decided if Donald will play in his team’s first regular-season game in Australia against the San Francisco 49ers.
“It’s going to be a day at a time for us,” McVay told reporters on Sunday. “What does that mean for Australia? The first step was, ‘Are you coming back?’ If so, let’s do that. Let’s get you on the practice field. Let’s get you acclimated to your teammates, to your coaches. And then we’ll see what the ramp-up period looks like, whether he’s available, or whether we think it’s best to be able to play him in Australia.”
For his part, Donald said he’s thankful to be a part of this team that is a heavy favorite to win the Super Bowl.
“This is a complete team with me here or without me here,” Donald said in his first press conference following his decision to unretire. “For me to even have an opportunity to be a part of this team, I take nothing for granted. It’s a blessing to be retired from the game for two years and have the opportunity to come back and be a part of something special.”
2.
Ralph Vacchiano: It seemed like a favor for an old friend at first, the Giants giving Odell Beckham Jr. a chance to come to camp at age 33 after having not played football for two years.
Instead, it turned into a Cinderella story.
Beckham rose from the bottom of the New York Giants’ roster and made the team that he never wanted to leave in the first place. He did it through hard work, proving he still had something left in his battered body, which he did through some highlight-reel moves at practice and decent play in the preseason (including a three-catch, 53-yard performance against the Jets on Friday night).
Odell Beckham Jr. is back with the Giants in his familiar No. 3. (Rich Graessle/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Also helping his case was that the Giants lost slot WR Calvin Austin to a torn ACL last week, which probably opened up a spot for Beckham.
Beckham is probably the fourth or fifth receiver on the roster, behind Malik Nabers, rookie Malachi Fields, veteran Darnell Mooney and maybe even Darius Slayton. It’s hard to imagine he’ll have much of a role when the regular season begins, but he’s brought energy to the team and to the fanbase.
And he insists his Cinderella story isn’t over yet.
3.
Greg Auman: If you weren’t aware of the extreme value placed on quarterbacks in the NFL, consider that four teams – the Eagles, Falcons, Steelers and Vikings – carried four quarterbacks on their initial 53-man roster, at least one more than normal.
The most famous case of this was the 2000 Patriots, and it’s unlikely that any of this year’s rookie QB4s will go on to, say, win seven Super Bowls. But last year, the Browns carried four, waited a day, then got a fifth-round pick from the Raiders for Kenny Pickett. The Eagles have made several trades of their backups for draft picks, as well.
Getting a quarterback – even a backup – on the cheap is a huge value for an NFL team, so even as a quick flip to a needy team is a good use of your 53rd spot if you instead cut a marginal veteran you know you can get back in a few days. (The Browns were close to keeping four quarterbacks, placing second-year QB Dillon Gabriel on injured reserve for a month while keeping three others.)
Tennessee cut Will Levis loose, and he’ll almost certainly be claimed on waivers, but the teams that miss out on him and others they can get for free might give up a future draft pick to add a QB4 who can be their QB3 or, in some cases, even QB2.
Will Levis walked off the Nissan Stadium field for the last time with the Titans on Saturday night. (Johnnie Izquierdo/Getty Images)
4.
Williams: When Seattle Seahawks general manager John Schneider selected Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe in the third round of the 2025 draft, the organization understood he needed seasoning to produce on an NFL stage.
However, entering Seattle’s preseason finale, Milroe had not shown a command of Seattle’s offense, with turnovers, pre-snap penalties and missed throws proving the norm when he was on the field.
But on Friday night on the road against the Kansas City Chiefs, Milroe showed the potential the Seahawks saw in him in college. He finished 16-of-26 for 223 yards, with a touchdown pass to tight end Nick Vannett and no interceptions. He was sacked once and posted a 101.9 passer rating.
Milroe looked comfortable in the pocket, completing passes to 10 different pass catchers and creating three chunk plays of at least 24 yards.
Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald wants Milroe to use his legs more because he understands the conflict a dynamic quarterback creates for a defense from his time in Baltimore with Lamar Jackson. With Super Bowl MVP running back Kenneth Walker III now with the Chiefs, the Seahawks are looking for ways to create more explosive plays.
With his steady play against Kansas City, Milroe took a step in proving he’s ready for a role as a gadget player in Seattle’s offense.
5.
Steven Ruiz: I’m not ready to buy the Chargers as title contenders – there are still too many holes on the roster – but I am sold on this offense being a highly entertaining watch now that Mike McDaniel is calling plays as the team’s new offensive coordinator.
The former Dolphins head coach may have lost control of his locker room in Miami, but his ability to draw up explosive plays never really wavered. Even with Tua Tagovailoa throwing ducks all over the field, Miami finished ninth in explosive play rate.
Now, McDaniel is teaming up with one of the NFL’s most gifted passers in Justin Herbert. That tandem gave us a sneak peek at what might be coming this past weekend with this 65-yard strike for a touchdown.
Herbert’s pass traveled 48.1 yards through the air, per Next Gen Stats. It was the longest throw any quarterback has ever made for a McDaniel-coached team.
In Miami, McDaniel was accustomed to watching wide-open receivers slow down for Tagovailoa’s looping downfield throws. Watching wide receiver Quentin Johnston run under Herbert’s bomb while barely breaking stride must have been a jolt to his system.
It was also the first time Herbert had ever attempted a throw of at least 45 air yards to a receiver with at least three yards of separation.
These two are going to make each other’s jobs a lot easier, and given their respective talents, that should produce a lot of fireworks for the Chargers offense.
