Albert Breer’s Mailbag: What a Potential Aaron Donald Return Could Look Like

Eric Weddle could provide a blueprint for the 35-year-old. Plus, what Aaron Glenn needs to prove in Year 2 with the Jets, the A.J. Brown trade and more.

Could Myles Garrett joining the Rams lure Aaron Donald out of retirement? | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

Jump to a topic

1. Aaron Donald 
2. New York Jets 
3. A.J. Brown
4. Seattle Super Bowl host?
5. Tyreek Hill
6. Green Bay Packers 
7. Minnesota Vikings 
8. Cornerback market
9. Jared Verse
10. Arizona Cardinals’ QBs
11. NFL middle class
12. New York Giants
13. Los Angeles Chargers
14. Joe Flacco
15. NFC West

With the June 1 dust settled, you loaded the mailbag up with your questions, and now it’s time for me to empty it.

Aaron Donald 

From Vinnie (@nottakenname): Odds that Aaron Donald plays this season?

Vinnie, I don’t know the answer to that.

It’s a big commitment, returning to go through the whole grind after two years on the shelf, and at 35 years old. He’d have to get bowed up for training camp, battle to get into football shape and then endure the gauntlet of a 17-game regular season, plus the playoffs.  

That’s why, when I was asked about it the other day by Rich Eisen (I hadn’t yet seen what Donald said to Pat McAfee) I said that it seemed more likely that he’d pull an Eric Weddle than go through all that goes along with playing the whole year.

For those who forgot, Weddle retired after spending the 2019 season with the Rams in his native Southern California. In that single season, he forged a strong bond with Sean McVay. And so in January 2022, with Jordan Fuller and Taylor Rapp hurt, and the team about to enter the playoffs, McVay called Weddle to see what sort of shape he was in. Weddle was intrigued by the idea, and the Rams signed him to the practice squad.

The six-time Pro Bowler, who’d just turned 37, came off the bench, played nine snaps and tweaked a hamstring in the first round. He then came off the bench and played 61 snaps in the divisional round against Tom Brady’s Buccaneers, then started and played every snap in the NFC title game, and started again in the Rams’ Super Bowl win over the Bengals, wearing the green dot for that game.

Incidentally, one of that game’s heroes was Donald. So he’s seen it be done before. He’s also a freak’s freak, a couple of years younger than Weddle was and played a position that’s less reliant on foot speed. I wouldn’t rule out a comeback. But to me, the idea of doing it like Weddle might be a little more realistic than coming back full-time. Either way, it’d be a heck of a story if he returned to team up with Myles Garrett, and for that reason alone I kinda hope it happens.

New York Jets 

From Steve (@RacingDFS): Is Aaron Glenn coaching for his job this year? If so, what is the expectation in the building, seven wins is enough for him to stay on? Jets

Steve, the short answer is that he is coaching for his job, but I don’t think this is as simple as setting a win total as the hurdle he has to clear to stay employed.

The Aaron Glenn–Darren Mougey leadership group has made a pretty emphatic statement on what they inherited. When they arrived with the Jets, there were seven homegrown former first-round picks on the roster, none of whom were considered busts. Four of those seven are already gone, with Garrett Wilson, Will McDonald IV and Olu Fashanu the three remaining.

The result is a war chest of picks. The Jets had three first-round picks this year and have another three in what’s expected to be a loaded 2027 draft. So, what’s most important for Glenn and his staff, which was largely turned over after Year 1, is showing that they can draft and develop young talent. What I think Glenn needs to do, ahead of what should be a franchise-shifting draft next year, is show that the arrow is pointing up on his program after all that attrition.

And showing that coming out of 2026, guys like Armand Membou, Mason Taylor, David Bailey, Kenyon Sadiq and Omar Cooper Jr. are coming together with guys such as Wilson, Fashanu and McDonald to form the kind of core that can support a young quarterback.

Maybe that’s in a seven-win season. Maybe it’s in a 5–12 season that ends in a four-game winning streak. Either way, I think ownership wants to see light at the end of the tunnel.

The Eagles will receive a 2028 first-round pick from the Patriots in exchange for A.J. Brown. | Eric Canha-Imagn Images

A.J. Brown

From Anthony Calitri (@EastCosaNostra): What Are Your Thoughts On The A.J. Brown Trade?

Anthony, I think for the Eagles, it was simply time. Last year was a slog. Even the Super Bowl year was a little complicated. Philly got everything it could out of Brown, and to get a first-round pick, even if it’s one that’s two years off, for Brown four years after trading that first-rounder for him is a coup. Also, DeVonta Smith is ready to be a No. 1, Dontayvion Wicks has a real ceiling coming in and Makai Lemon should be plug-and-play as a first-rounder.

For the Patriots, I love the investment back into your young quarterback. That’s the first, and most important piece. But beyond just that, I do think landing Brown allows you to move your skill guys into roles more commensurate with who they are. Romeo Doubs has some untapped potential, like Wicks, but I don’t think he’s a No. 1. Kyle Williams has a chance to be really good, but he’s young. Hunter Henry and Pop Douglas are complementary pieces.

Now, Brown allows them to shoulder the sort of load that they’re equipped for, and I do think the added downfield element Brown and you’d hope Williams give the Patriots should make TreVeyon Henderson even more dangerous as a space player.

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From Jacob Sain (@JSainity): Does Brown’s exit from the Eagles paint the Titans in a more sympathetic light? It was a terrible trade regardless, but since Brown was discontent with a great organization like the Eagles too, does the blame shift away from the teams and toward the person?

No, because the circumstances weren’t the same. The reason the Titans traded him in 2022 is because the doctors basically told the team’s brass that there needed to be limits on any extension they gave Brown, due to the degenerative condition in his knee. Based on what Brown’s camp wanted in a new contract, that basically made the decision to deal him for a first-round pick academic.

These things happen. If the Titans knew Brown’s knee (which still has the condition, of course) was going to hold up like it did for four years, obviously they wouldn’t have traded him. But the bigger problem was whiffing on the first-round pick they got for him. Treylon Burks, who was supposed to replace Brown, had 53 catches for 699 yards and a touchdown in three years as a Titan. Brown had more in each category by his 11th game in Philly.

Seattle Super Bowl host?

From Lars Hanson (@LarsHanson): What would it take for Seattle to host a Super Bowl?

Lars, I love Seattle as a city, and this is actually a pretty interesting question.

The stadium is great, even if it is aging, and is situated in the heart of the city. It’s plenty big—if you rank cities by market size, which measures the metro area, it’s bigger than Detroit, Minneapolis and Miami, all of which have hosted multiple Super Bowls. It’s well ahead of New Orleans and Las Vegas, though those are separate cases. I think the comparison to Nashville, which was awarded Super Bowl LXIV, is interesting.

Seattle is the country’s 13th-largest market; Nashville is 26th. The weather in the two cities also isn’t as different as you might think. The average high temperature for February in Nashville is 53°F, and the low is 33°F. In Seattle, the average high in February is 50°F, and the low is 37°F. Granted, it rains more in Seattle, and Nashville has more entertainment infrastructure, hotel space and a roof on its new stadium. But the differences aren’t big enough for Seattle to be a hard no.

I like the idea. So, it might simply come down to how badly Seattle wants to push to host a Super Bowl. Whoever the Seahawks’ new owner is in a few months will have a role in that.

Tyreek Hill

From Donald Williams (@EOD4LIFE): Where's Tyreek Hill going?

Donald, I have no idea. But I do know he has to get healthy first.

The Chiefs do make some sense.

Green Bay Packers 

From Mark Daly (@Keadew_Red): Josh Sweat to the Packers, will it happen?

Mark, I wouldn’t rule it out. There were plenty of rumors that Sweat would be traded ahead of the draft. When I asked the Cardinals about it then, I got a pretty emphatic no.

But if new Packers DC Jonathan Gannon goes through the spring and isn’t wild about what he has to line up opposite Micah Parsons—and right now, it’s former first-rounder Lukas Van Ness, who’s been just O.K. and not much else—then I could see Green Bay reevaluating its options. And since Sweat was with Gannon for the past four years, he’d be a very logical add, if one who’s a little older (he turns 30 in March), a little pricey (due $18.1 million in cash this year) and has a degenerative knee condition he’s managed since high school.

Minnesota Vikings 

From graeme smith (@grmsmth): What swung it for the Vikings on Teasley?

Graeme, I think fit was paramount in the Nolan Teasley GM hire, in two different ways.

First, his scouting background was key. If Rob Brzezinski wasn’t going to be GM/primary football executive, then the Vikings wanted to keep him in the fold and pair him with whoever that wound up being. And in that setup—one we’ve mentioned that the Rams and Lions have long kept—you generally have a scouting chief as GM alongside your head of ops, allowing the GM to focus on building the roster. Accordingly, Teasley started as a scouting intern in 2013 and worked his way up from there as an evaluator.

Second, communication and finding someone who could be a proxy for ownership, with ownership more often in New Jersey or Florida than in Minnesota, was vital. Teasley worked in a Seattle operation that, under GM John Schneider, is wide open and free of silos, allowing everyone to have visibility into every part of the business. So Teasley saw it through the eyes of an intern, an assistant GM and everywhere in between, and did so with an organization that, for the most part, was without an owner there daily.

Which, in the end, made Teasley the right fit.

Cornerback market

From DK is a Wookiee (@DK_Wookiee1): Will the Pats reach an agreement with Gonzo, or is there a possibility he is traded? What would be the cost to a team trading for him?

DK, I think Christian Gonzalez will wind up getting an extension with the Patriots, but I don’t think this is an easy negotiation.

Corner is one of those spots that hasn’t yet undergone a big market correction. The market moved to the mid-20s with Patrick Surtain II’s extension at $24 million per year in 2024, and up again last year with Derek Stingley Jr.’s extension at $30 million per year, with Jaycee Horn following Surtain and Sauce Gardner closely following Stingley. So if you’re Gonzalez or Seattle’s Devon Witherspoon, you’d view a jump into the mid-30s as automatic. (Surtain also just received a raise this week after the market had passed him a bit.)

Then, there’s the fact that Gonzalez and Witherspoon have the same agent, CAA’s Reggie Johnson, and Witherspoon has a teammate from his draft class, wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba, who just got $41.25 million per year. Which raises another point—last March, the high-water mark for nonquarterbacks was in the mid-30s. Then, Myles Garrett got $40 million per. And now, JSN is one of eight nonquarterbacks making over $40 million per year, with Texans star Will Anderson Jr. all the way up at $50 million per year.

So if you’re Williams, wouldn’t you make the point that because of the way pay exploded for receivers (JSN, Ja’Marr Chase) and pass rushers (Anderson, Garrett, Micah Parsons, Aidan Hutchinson, T.J. Watt, Danielle Hunter), it’s time for a similar markup on corners? And wouldn’t you play Witherspoon against the JSN deal, and then make that the floor for a deal for Gonzalez? Again, all this is interesting—and the longer the teams wait, even more so.

Jared Verse

From Ihateskipbayless (@ocdan74): Has Verse been seen or released a statement since the trade?

Skip, I send this to you with the caveat that, sure, What is the team gonna post? is a fair rebuttal to this. … But Jared Verse looked fine coming off the jet and landing in Northeast Ohio, and also fine in reporting to work early Tuesday morning. Verse’s reputation is good, and he’s a guy who worked his way up to this point, going from Albany to Florida State to the first round, so I think he’s more equipped than most to deal with some bumps.

early bird in the building!@JaredVerse1 | #DawgPound pic.twitter.com/mQNADHONMe

— Cleveland Browns (@Browns) June 3, 2026

touched down in Browns Town 📍 pic.twitter.com/vrF38dgknM

— Cleveland Browns (@Browns) June 2, 2026

Arizona Cardinals’ QBs

From Brandon Rush (@BrandonRush): Given the miscommunications between Jacoby Brissett and the Cardinals, does Arizona have seller’s remorse in letting Kyler walk?

Brandon, I don’t think so. I think the Cardinals were moving on from Kyler Murray regardless—GM Monti Ossenfort didn’t draft or extend Murray, and he gave him a three-year test drive, and regardless of whom you assign blame to for it, it didn’t work out. As such, there was no way they were going forward with Murray on that contract. And given the 2026 quarterback class, the conscious decision was made to make this a bridge year at QB.

That doesn’t mean Carson Beck won’t blow them away and change the plan, or that they won’t be a little better than expected this year, and not see the right opportunity in next year’s draft. But it feels to me like they essentially punted to 2027, which was the right move, albeit one that’ll have some variables that might affect it.

Also, if I was the Cardinals, I’d be taking a good long look at Brendan Sorsby.

NFL middle class

From Jason Brantley (@JasonBrant31199): With the cap spiking, what is happening to the market for the “middle class” of the NFL—the reliable, second-tier starters who aren’t superstars but hold a roster together?

Jason, yes, there are teams with the old Peyton Manning Colts model, where you have a handful of stars making a ton, and then most of the rest of your roster playing on rookie contracts. The Chiefs are built that way. The 49ers and Rams, too. And those are all very, very well-run teams.

But I think if you look hard enough you can see teams with strong middle classes. The Broncos are one, for sure, and part of that is that they have a quarterback on a rookie contract. But guys like Jonathon Cooper, Zach Allen, Ben Powers and Courtland Sutton have good mid-level contracts as players who are vital, but maybe not quite franchise cornerstones. Seattle is another team like that with guys such as Uchenna Nwosu, Cooper Kupp and Abe Lucas.

I don’t think it’s so much about upper class vs. middle class. It’s more about one team’s model vs. another’s—and, yes, a lot of that relates to what your quarterback is making.

New York Giants

From Michael Sylvester (@m_sylvester70): Do you think there are any residual locker room issues for the Giants pertaining to the Jaxson Dart–Abdul Carter situation or is it really done and over with? Too much potential for finally a good to great season.

No, I think they’re good. These guys are in their 20s. NFL locker rooms are melting pots.

Just think about it this way: When you were 23, were you freezing your friends out because you disagreed with them over politics? At that age, I couldn’t really tell what most of my friends’ politics even were.

Los Angeles Chargers

From Charlie (@cmsinclair): How do you feel about the Mike McDaniel and Justin Herbert pairing? Will it get the Chargers over the hump?

Charlie, I think it’ll be really good because they can let Herbert just go play. The beauty of McDaniel’s scheme, which of course is from the Shanahan offensive family, is that it takes a lot of the mental strain off the quarterback, and lets him go play. That doesn’t mean they won’t be leveraging Herbert’s football brain. More so, it’s that through formationing and motioning, and giving protection calls to the center, McDaniel will give Herbert a clearer picture, and simpler, faster way to determine where the ball is going.

From there, Herbert can let his ability take over and we all know what sort of ability he’s got.

Joe Flacco

From Pat Mitchell (@thepmitchell): Is Joe Flacco elite?

Always. And even more so since he made public his take on eating dinner alone on a work trip.

NFC West

Fro IGI Media (@_IGI_Media_): How does the Myles Garrett trade affect other teams’ player acquisition plans? More meat up front ... a QB with 4.4 speed ... an increased life insurance policy for the QB room ... 

IGI, I think it puts the onus on the teams in the NFC West to continue investing into their offensive lines, and being balanced in how they build those groups across the board, since Garrett’s such a moveable piece and the Rams have Byron Young, Kobie Turner and Braden Fiske to play alongside him. I’d also say it affects how you call a game, and where you run the ball, and to which side you slide your protection … and on and on and on.

He’s a pretty damn ridiculous player.

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