In January, Cliff Avril said he wanted to play football again despite suffering a potentially career-ending neck injury last season. But it won’t happen with the Seahawks, who cut the veteran defensive end on Friday with a failed physical designation, the team announced.
Cliff Avril cut by Seahawks after potentially career-ending neck injury
Avril said in January he wants to play football again, but his NFL career could be over.
Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports
Jeanna Kelley has been covering the Falcons for The Falcoholic since 2011 and the NFL for SB Nation since 2015.
Avril, a third-round draft pick in 2008, spent his first five seasons with the Lions. He signed with the Seahawks as a free agent prior to the 2013 season, and had a career-high 11.5 sacks in 2016. But he was only on the field for four games in 2017 due to a serious neck injury that required surgery.
Here’s the outlook for the Seahawks and Avril.
What’s next for the Seahawks?
Avril isn’t the only veteran on the Seattle defense who won’t be back in 2018. Kam Chancellor is another possibility after suffering a stinger that could end his career. Richard Sherman was released and signed by the 49ers, and Michael Bennett was traded to the Eagles.
Even Earl Thomas has been the subject of trade rumors throughout the 2018 offseason.
Cutting Avril saves the Seahawks over $7 million. The team has already done most of its work of the offseason, so the extra cap space likely wasn’t the reason for the move, but it isn’t insignificant — especially since the Seahawks only had about $7.5 million in available cap space before making this move.
What’s next for Avril?
It depends on whether or not he’s cleared to play. Avril said in January he’d like to play again.
“I believe so,” Avril told NFL Network’s Steve Wyche on The Aftermath. “Right now it’s all about recovery. I had surgery. I’m in the process of recovering. It’s a long process, a long journey. When I get to the end of that, then I’ll figure out what’s next.”
But head coach Pete Carroll said during one of his weekly appearances on Seattle’s 710 ESPN in January that Avril (as well as Chancellor) would have “a hard time playing football again.”
In a goodbye message to Seattle fans on Instagram, Avril said nothing about his intentions for the future:
But three days after his release, Avril found a new job: on the radio. He joined Sports Radio 950 KJR in Seattle to cover the Seahawks on The Jason Puckett and Cliff Avril Show.
Avril did not mention whether he would continue to try playing, though the station’s senior vice president of programming, Rich Moore, hinted it might be the end of Avril’s NFL career.
“Cliff is a beloved Seahawk who will embrace this community and truly engage with the Seattle sports fans on all our platforms,” Moore said. “Cliff had an amazing career and we are lucky to be part of his next chapter.”
If Avril is cleared to get back on the field, it will be with a new team.
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