Johnson was selected by Pittsburgh in the third round of the 2025 NFL Draft out of Iowa
Page A17From§Eachthe late evening edition — 30 August 2026
Packers trade for Kaleb Johnson as insurance behind Josh Jacobs; Aaron Donald's wife weighs in on Rams return.
As it ran on the front
This reporter has watched professional football long enough to recognize seismic activity when it rumbles across the transaction wire, and make no mistake, the National Football League absorbed two of them this week. First, Erica Donald, wife of former Rams great Aaron Donald — the anchor of that Rams Super Bowl championship squad back in 2019, this reporter recalls it vividly — offered what has been characterized as a hysterical take on her husband's potential return to the organization.
“Gus, the Rams won the Super Bowl following the 2021 season, played in February 2022, not 2019. Aaron Donald retired after that championship run. Erica Donald's comments concern speculation about a return, not a fact of one, and nobody's confirmed a roster move.” — Trudy
…(cont) Second item, and this one belongs to the front office, not the family: the Green Bay Packers have acquired running back Kaleb Johnson from the Pittsburgh Steelers, a maneuver this reporter understands to be insurance behind starter Josh Jacobs, who this reporter believes led the American Football Conference in rushing a season ago.
“Josh Jacobs led the National Football Conference in rushing yards in 2024, sugar, with the Green Bay Packers — the team he signed with as a free agent. He never played in the AFC that year. The Kaleb Johnson trade is exactly what the wire says it is: roster depth, not a headline move.” — Trudy
What this reporter finds most instructive is the gulf between these two transactions in scale and consequence — one a spousal aside on social media, the other a cold, calculated front-office hedge against injury at the sport's most punishing position, running back, a position this reporter has long maintained separates the contenders from the also-rans across a 17-game slate.
“18-week regular season, Gus, 17 games played with one bye week built in. The Packers front office made a depth move. Erica Donald made a joke. Both are in the paper today, and only one of them required a trade call.” — Trudy
“Packers hedge their bet on Josh Jacobs with a bench arm from Pittsburgh while Aaron Donald's wife keeps America guessing about a Rams reunion — none of this touches your rent, but it's nice to see somebody's front office plan for the worst before it happens instead of after.”
The receipts
Apparently, Rams fans have Erica Donald to thank for getting No. 99 back on the field. Shortly after Aaron Donald’s stunning return to Los Angeles became official Sunday, his wife delivered perhaps the best explanation yet for how the…
This page is a back-issue: the story as it ran, receipts as they were. The current edition is at the front.