I’m a Jets fan. I am afraid of the Los Angeles Rams.

Not “they’re probably good” afraid. Not idle-offseason-chatter afraid. I mean the kind of afraid where you see something happening on the other side of the league and you know, at a cellular level, that it’s going to ruin someone’s season. Possibly multiple seasons. Possibly mine, even though the Jets and the Rams play in different conferences and I should be focused on literally any of our own problems.

Myles Garrett just became a Ram.

Let that sit there for a second. The man set the single-season sack record in 2025 — 23 sacks, two consecutive DPOYs — and the Rams just traded Jared Verse (a Pro Bowl defensive end, by the way, a former Defensive Rookie of the Year, 25 years old) plus three draft picks to bring him to Los Angeles. They did not do this because they are rebuilding. They did this because Matthew Stafford won the MVP, because they were four yards away from the Super Bowl last year, and because they play their home games at SoFi Stadium — which is hosting the Super Bowl this February.

The Rams are here.

And then Aaron Donald texted Jordan Schultz unprompted the night the Garrett trade dropped.

“I’m for sure flirting with the idea. Helluva an opportunity with the Super Bowl in SoFi this year. If I can find the fire, it’s a possibility.”

https://twitter.com/Schultz_Report/status/2061958179894841625

Sean McVay confirmed he’d already spoken to Donald about the trade. McVay said, quote, “If Aaron decides he wants to dust them off at the age of 35, I bet you he could still do it at a pretty high clip.” He did not shoot it down. He did not say “Aaron’s retired, we respect his decision, moving on.” He left the door completely open.

To be clear: Donald has not announced anything. This is still in the “reportedly considering” stage. He’s 35. He hasn’t played in two years. Maybe the fire doesn’t light back up.

Here is what I keep coming back to.

Donald didn’t retire because he was done. He went out after a Pro Bowl, All-Pro 2023 season — 8 sacks, 53 tackles, still elite. He retired by choice, because after 10 seasons, 111 sacks, three DPOYs, and a Super Bowl ring, he had already proven everything. He left because no situation felt worthy of what he had left in the tank.

That’s not a guy who quit. That’s a guy who raised the bar so high his own team couldn’t clear it.

The situation just changed.

The Rams now have the MVP at quarterback, the reigning DPOY on the defensive line, a home-field Super Bowl shot, and McVay essentially calling Donald on the phone to say look at what I built, are you in. Donald himself identified the SoFi Super Bowl as the reason to come back. He texted McAfee that the Garrett trade “for sure got me thinking.”

If Donald comes back — and it’s a real if, not a fake if — you’re talking about the greatest defensive tackle of all time playing alongside his heir apparent. A three-time DPOY and a two-time DPOY on the same defensive line. The man who held the record before it was broken, next to the man who broke it. There’s no modern comparable. That’s not a depth chart. That’s a punishment.

The Browns fans who watched Garrett leave deserve your sympathy. They got real assets — Jared Verse is legitimately good, two 2027 first-rounders is serious capital — but they’re still going from watching their best player every week to watching a rebuild.

I don’t have that problem to worry about. I’m a Jets fan. Our problems are different and somehow always worse.

What I have to worry about is an NFC that might have the AJ Brown trade nobody saw coming reshaping one conference while the Rams are quietly assembling something in LA that looks like a cheat code.

The fire may or may not light back up for Aaron Donald. McVay is clearly trying. The Super Bowl is in his building.

I believe in the fire. And I’m afraid.