Aaron Donald retired after the 2023 season and never signed another contract, which is the entire point of what happened at SoFi Stadium on Monday night. He showed up on the sideline, the crowd came unglued, and the Rams played like a team that had just been handed a supply of adrenaline with no salary attached. Matthew Stafford carved up a Giants defense that had no answer for a building suddenly reminded what it sounds like when it is full, and Los Angeles walked out of Week 1's disappointment with a rout that reset the conversation in the NFC West in one night. Jaxson Dart, New York's rookie quarterback, left with what is believed to be a sprained MCL and an MRI on the calendar, which is its own verdict on how the evening went for the Giants.

Here is the number the highlight package will skip: Donald is not on the Rams' cap sheet, not on injured reserve, not owed a signing bonus, and he still moved the needle on a Monday night broadcast harder than most players actively employed by the team. The Rams got a two-time Defensive Player of the Year's home-crowd equity for the price of a stadium tour. Dart's MRI results land this week. The Rams' bill for Monday night was zero dollars, and New York's is still being calculated.