Restructure won out over retirement for the Los Angeles Rams and Aaron Donald. Today, the two sides came to an agreement, ending talk of holdouts or hanging them up as the Rams head into the season as the defending world champions. According to NFL Network and NFL.com insider Ian Rapoport, the deal makes Donald the highest-paid player in league history, outside of quarterbacks.

Sources: The #Rams have re-worked All-World DT Aaron Donald’s 3 remaining contract years to give him a massive $40M raise through 2024, making him the highest paid non-QB in NFL history at 31 years old. He gets $95M(!) through 2024. pic.twitter.com/SoDRw4GHE4

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) June 6, 2022

If the dominant defensive tackle did not have enough bargaining chips for a raise before the end of last season, bringing a Super Bowl to LA certainly pushed his negotiating power over the top.

Donald recorded two sacks and four tackles, including two for a loss in LA’s 23-20 Super Bowl LVI win over the Cincinnati Bengals. The 13th overall pick of the Rams in 2014 helped capture his first Vince Lombardi trophy for the team that drafted him.

The 31-year-old finished third in Defensive Player of the Year voting after coming up with 12.5 sacks, 84 total tackles, and four forced fumbles in 2021.

FanDuel Sportsbook has Donald with the third-shortest odds to win the award this season. The Pitt alum sits at +800, behind 2021 winner T.J. Watt (+700) and Myles Garrett (+600) of the Cleveland Browns.