If you're superstitious -- and continue to reserve hope that the Dallas Cowboys will one day break through -- 2026 has been the year of snapping droughts.
Not only do the New York Knicks sit on top of the NBA for the first time in 53 years, but Arsenal lifted their first Premier League trophy in 22 years. That has to be a good omen for Jerry Jones' Cowboys, right?
Nobody needs to be reminded that the Cowboys haven't reached the NFC Championship Game since winning the Super Bowl following the 1995 season. Stephen Jones famously used air quotes when referring to the 30-year drought, as if it were somehow open to interpretation.
Unfortunately, the drought is very real, and the road to snapping it isn't getting any easier. According to ESPN's Adam Schefter, momentum continues to build around Aaron Donald coming out of retirement to rejoin the Los Angeles Rams.
"The idea here is Donald himself has floated that he could potentially return to Los Angeles," Schefter said on NFL Live. "He's thinking about it. Training camp is getting closer next month. They'd have to come up with a plan for him to bring him back.
"But where else right now would Aaron Donald be more wanted, more celebrated, more respected than in the Rams locker room, where Myles Garrett is already waiting for him?. Again, no decision from Aaron Donald and we'll see whether the two sides can get it done, but there seems to be a lot of momentum to the idea that this is certainly possible."
Aaron Donald rejoining the Rams would be a nightmare for the Cowboys
If there's one thing the Cowboys and the rest of the NFL don't need, it's the Rams adding Donald to their juggernaut roster.
The Rams were in the NFC Championship Game just a few months ago, and they followed it up by trading for the best defensive player in football in Myles Garrett. Before Garrett claimed that mantle, it belonged to Aaron Donald. If Donald comes out of retirement, they could field two all-time greats when all is said and done. They could even play right next to each other in certain formations.
From a Cowboys perspective, the idea of Garrett and Donald playing on the same defensive line is horrifying. Los Angeles was a class above Dallas last season. While the Cowboys also improved this offseason, their upgrades pale in comparison, and the Rams' upgrades don't even end there.
Before the Garrett blockbuster, LA traded for Chiefs All-Pro cornerback Trent McDuffie. The Rams' secondary was their biggest weakness last year, and they addressed it in emphatic fashion.
Even if Donald is 3/4 or half of the player he was in his prime, odds are he's still better than 75 percent of the league's interior defenders. Before you remind us that he's been retired for three years, we are talking about a three-time Defensive Player of the Year and an eight-time first-team All-Pro. He's one of the best defensive players in the history of the game.
No team is unbeatable, and it's impossible to know if the Cowboys and Rams will even cross paths in the playoffs. But the Rams were already going to be a tough out if they brought back the same roster.
Throwing Donald into a roster that already added Garrett and McDuffie to complement an offense that ranked second in EPA per play under reigning MVP Matthew Stafford and Sean McVay calling plays would be patently absurd.
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