Five-time Pro Bowl LB retires from NFL

Mosley was long seen as a cut candidate for the Jets this offseason, and he was indeed let go in March. The 33-year-old (as of Thursday) became a free agent as a result, but no suitors showed interest up to this point. Mosley intended to keep playing this season, but that will no longer be the case.

A first-round pick of the Ravens in 2014, Mosley immediately took on starting duties and established himself as one of the league’s most productive linebackers. He earned a Pro Bowl nod in four of his five Baltimore campaigns before departing on the open market. Mosley landed a five-year, $85M pact with the Jets, a deal that did not pay early dividends for the team. The Alabama product was limited to two games in 2020, and he was among the players who sat out the following campaign.

Each year from 2021-23, Mosley was able to remain available to his second career team. During that stretch, he continued to record triple-digit tackles (something he managed seven times during his NFL tenure). A herniated disc resulted in considerable missed time this past season, however, and that injury led to new questions about a potential parting of ways. Using a post-June 1 designation, the Jets proceeded with Mosley’s release to get out of the final year of his contract.

New York retained fellow linebacker Jamien Sherwood on a $15M-per-year deal this spring, and he will be counted on to remain one of the team’s most productive defenders moving forward. Concerning the remaining market at the LB spot, meanwhile, the likes of Eric Kendricks, Ja’Whaun Bentley and Kyzir White are still available to teams looking to make an addition ahead of training camp. Mosley, whose career included five second-team All-Pro nods, will now turn his attention to his post-playing days.

Thanks in large part to his free-agent Jets deal (a record-breaking accord for linebackers at the time), Mosley accumulated over $88M in career earnings. He will depart the NFL with 136 combined regular and postseason games to his name at the pro level following a college tenure that included a pair of national championships.