The New York Jets suddenly have a hole on the offensive line after longtime stalwart D'Brickashaw Ferguson surprisingly decided to retire after 10 NFL seasons, ESPN's Rich Cimini reported on Friday.
Jets offensive tackle D’Brickashaw Ferguson retiring after 10 seasons
Ferguson reportedly hopes to become an NFL general manager after deciding to walk away from the game.
Timothy T. Ludwig-USA TODAY Sports
Ferguson, 32, was a first-round pick in the 2006 NFL Draft, and earned three trips to the Pro Bowl in his career. Ferguson never missed a single snap for injury reasons throughout his entire career. The only snap he missed was a desperation play when the Jets took their offensive line off the field to try a lateral play.
While Cimini says the offensive tackle was asked to take a pay cut after a subpar 2015 season, that wasn’t the reason Ferguson decided to retire, nor was it an issue with health.
Despite having faith he could be a starter again in 2016, Ferguson “just felt it was time,” according to Cimini.
In December, Ferguson wrote an article for Sports Illustrated about his reaction to the movie Concussion, saying he felt “betrayed” by the league after watching:
After learning all of this, I feel a bit betrayed by the people or committees put in place by the league who did not have my best interests at heart.
Dr. Elliot Pellman was one of the Jets’ team doctors when I was a rookie in 2006, and to learn that he was a part of the group that tried to discredit the scope and impact of brain injuries among players within the league is disheartening.
Ferguson hopes to one day become an NFL general manager, but for now the Jets are left with huge shoes to fill at left tackle and few options beyond the 2016 NFL Draft to fill it. Still, Cimini says the Jets were not blindsided by the news and have already explored trade and draft options.
The tackle’s decision to retire also clears more than $9 million in cap room, as Ferguson had two years left on the six-year, $60 million extension signed in 2010.
Ferguson is the latest in a growing trend of players retiring from the NFL while still healthy enough to play longer. Detroit Lions wide receiver Calvin Johnson, New England Patriots linebacker Jerod Mayo and Seattle Seahawks running back Marshawn Lynch are among the names who have recently decided to walk away from the game early.
Eli Manning and Philip Rivers are the only players other than Ferguson who started all 160 regular season games over the last 10 years. In his NFL career, Ferguson never once appeared on an injury report or even missed a practice.
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