Report: Veteran OL Joe Looney to retire after nine-year career

The Giants are sending players into retirement left and right. Just a few days after signing with New York, veteran linebacker Todd Davis elected to retire. Now offensive lineman Joe Looney is doing the same.

Looney officially will retire from the NFL, a source told Jordan Raanan of ESPN.com (Twitter link). It’s another puzzling turn of events, as Looney only signed with the team on July 31. He started practicing right away and was reportedly getting plenty of reps. An interior lineman who can play both guard and center, Looney is still only 30 so he should have plenty left in the tank physically.

His signing with the Giants was a reunion of sorts. Looney played under current Giants offensive coordinator Jason Garrett in Dallas. A fourth-round pick of the 49ers in 2012, Looney spent his first three seasons in San Francisco. He was a 16-game starter for the Cowboys in 2018, then hit the bench in 2019 and then started 12 games last season at center.

The initial expectation from Giants beat writers was that he would compete for a starting job, but apparently his heart was elsewhere. Assuming he’s really done, the Wake Forest product will hang up his cleats with 104 career appearances and 42 starts under his belt.