The 2025 NFL offseason has seen a star-studded group of greats call it a career. Among them: Future Hall of Fame members Julio Jones, Zack Martin, Tyron Smith, Patrick Peterson, and Jason Peters.
Derek Carr, Terron Armstead, and Frank Ragnow led the group of “shocking retirees.” While we’re at it, congrats to Brandon Graham and Mason Crosby on fantastic careers as well.
So, which other big-named NFLers should follow suit and call it quits, and which ones should sign up for one last dance? Here are five NFL players who need to retire now, and five who need to come back for one more year.
Which NFL players need to play one more year, and which ones need to call it quits?
Retire: Odell Beckham Jr.
With three Pro Bowl selections, a Super Bowl 56 championship ring, and tens of millions in the bank, you can’t say that OBJ didn’t do well for himself in the NFL. But you also have to feel for the guy, because he was on a Hall of Fame trajectory before an onslaught of injuries derailed the back half of his prime years.
Beckham suffered season-ending injuries in 2017 and 2020 with the New York Giants and Cleveland Browns, respectively. The Browns waived OBJ in the midst of the 2021 season, and he was scooped up by the Rams.
Beckham helped the Rams to a Super Bowl 56 title. Unfortunately, he suffered a torn ACL in that game and decided to sit out the 2022 campaign to recover from the injury. Beckham spent the 2023 season with the Baltimore Ravens, catching 35 passes for 565 yards and a touchdown as a solid secondary weapon for MVP Lamar Jackson.
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Just when it looked like OBJ might still be a useful weapon, though, he had a disastrous 2024 season with the Miami Dolphins. He caught just nine passes for 55 yards and was waived in December.
Beckham hasn’t been a 1,000-yard receiver since 2019. He’s played 44 games since 2020. In other words, he’s done.
The Hall of Fame won’t call OBJ’s name, but he still had a very good run and at least reached the mountaintop with the Rams after being stuck on terrible teams most of his career. But he’s on the wrong side of 30 and needs to prioritize his long-term health now, so Beckham needs to do the right thing and retire ASAP.
Play One More Year: Von Miller
What a strange five-year stretch it’s been for Miller: Missed all of 2020 to injury. Get traded to the Rams during the 2021 season, and win a second Super Bowl. Suffer a season-ending injury in 2022 with the Buffalo Bills…have the worst season of your career in 2023…bounce back with a solid campaign in 2024 but then get released in a cap-saving move anyway.
Got all of that? Good.
Miller had six sacks last season and finished with an excellent Pro Football Focus grade of 82.4 in 2024. The man can still play. His two Super Bowl rings speak for themselves. The man’s a big-game player and winner.
Miller may be 36, but he’s still borderline Pro Bowl-caliber and could be the final piece needed to get a Super Bowl hopeful over the top.
His spot in the Hall of Fame is ensured. But it doesn’t hurt to pursue a third championship ring and truly cement yourselves among the best-of-the-best NFL pass-rushers.
The only two superior pass-rushers of Miller’s generation, Aaron Donald and J.J. Watt, retired early. Don’t walk away now when there’s so much juice left, Von. Get out there for another year and pursue a third ring while you’re still at it.
Retire: Michael Thomas
“Can’t Guard Mike” was among the NFL’s top wide receivers over his first four NFL seasons from 2016 to 2019. He exceeded the 90-catch and 1,100-yard marks each year and won Offensive Player of the Year honors in 2019 after catching 149 passes — a single-season record, by the way — for 1,725 yards and nine touchdowns.
Unfortunately, much like Odell Beckham Jr., Thomas went from a Hall of Fame shoo-in to an afterthought because of a tragic number of injuries. He missed the entire 2021 season with an ankle injury and was limited to 20 combined games over the 2020, 2022, and 2023 campaigns.
The Saints released Thomas after the 2023 season, and he went unsigned for 2024.
So here we are in 2025. Thomas hasn’t been healthy or effective since 2019. If nobody wanted to sign him last year, why would he get a contract for his age-32 season?
Even if Thomas got a contract, it’d be sad to watch him go out there and remind everyone he’s a shell of his former self. Thomas might as well retire gracefully and look at post-football endeavors with his career all but over.
Play One More Year: Stephon Gilmore
In an era where most cornerbacks — even the very best — decline by their early 30s, Gilmore has displayed remarkable longevity through his age-34 season.
The 2019 Defensive Player of the Year was rock-solid with the Minnesota Vikings last season, recording nine pass breakups and an interception. He was inconsistent in coverage but garnered a stellar PFF run defense grade of 77.6, 28th among corners.
Even in his prime, Gilmore was never the fastest or most athletic corner. He was all about instincts and high football IQ, which was why he was lights-out for Bill Belichick’s New England Patriots all those years.
So yes, Gilmore can still play in the right system as a rotational player. We could see him flourishing as a No. 2 or 3 corner on a deep secondary like those of the Kansas City Chiefs, Baltimore Ravens, Green Bay Packers, or Philadelphia Eagles.
Gilmore can still play, and his championship pedigree and big-game experience would help a lot of teams. Even though he’s been waiting a while for a contract, Gilmore oughta stay patient and sign up for his age-35 season. Lots of gas left in that tank, folks.
Retire: James Bradberry
After four seasons with the Carolina Panthers, this late bloomer signed with the New York Giants in 2020 and carved out a strong back-half of his NFL career.
Bradberry earned his only Pro Bowl nod in 2020 after recording three interceptions and a career-high 18 pass breakups. The G-Men released Bradberry in a cap-saving move after the 2021 season, and he wound up signing with the NFC East rival Eagles.
Bradberry and Darius Slay formed the league’s best cornerback tandem in 2022 and led the Eagles to a Super Bowl 57 appearance, where they lost to the Chiefs in controversial fashion.
But woof, did Bradberry ever come back down to earth in 2023? Per Pro Football Reference, He allowed 740 receiving yards and 11 touchdowns in coverage, yielding an opposing passer rating of 114.3 when targeted.
Unfortunately, a torn Achilles sidelined Berry for the entire 2024 season as his Eagles went on to beat KC in Super Bowl 59. Bradberry still got a ring, though, to finally put the cherry on top of his career.
The Eagles released Bradberry in a cap-saving move following their Super Bowl triumph, and it just feels like the right time for him to walk away. He’ll be 32 in 2025 and coming off a serious injury after arguably the worst season of his career in 2023. There’s no sense trying to keep up with younger and faster receivers out there, so why not retire on top?
Play One More Year: Shaq Barrett
The two-time Super Bowl champion was cut by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in a cap-saving move last year. He signed with the Miami Dolphins in free agency but wound up announcing his retirement in July.
Just when we thought the curtains had closed, Barrett announced his desire to continue playing. So the Dolphins decided to waive Barrett, who returned to the Bucs for their regular-season finale against the New Orleans Saints.
Barrett missed most of 2022 and played just one game last year, so his body is well-rested and should have plenty of juice left.
With two rings on his resume, this renowned playoff performer should be widely coveted by other Super Bowl hopefuls. Barrett doesn’t even have to play a full season. He can take his time and decide on a team in the middle of the season, when teams will be even more desperate to add pass-rushing help.
Bottom line: Barrett is far from finished and should put off retirement for at least one more year.
Retire: Dalvin Cook
You gotta feel for Dalvin Cook, who was among the NFL’s top running backs during his tenure with the Minnesota Vikings. Cook exceeded 1,000 yards rushing four straight years from 2019 to 2022, before Minny released him in a cap-saving move.
The New York Jets, who had just acquired Aaron Rodgers, tried adding to their superteam by signing Cook to join forces with Breece Hall. But Cook was a complete non-factor there, rushing for just 214 yards and no touchdowns in 15 games.
Cook was picked up by the Baltimore Ravens late in the year but got no playing time. The Dallas Cowboys signed Cook ahead of the 2024 season, but he got just eight carries on the year for 20 rushing yards.
Now 30, Cook is well past his best-before date and should just retire. It’s better to do it while you’re ahead. Waiting another year or two to hang up the cleats will just have everyone screaming, “What?! That guy was still active?!”
Play One More Year: C.J. Mosley
The New York Jets released the five-time Pro Bowler in a cap-saving move, and a part of a giant roster reset that saw them bid farewell to Aaron Rodgers, Davante Adams and DJ Reed.
Mosley was a mainstay on the Jets’ defense for five years, but injuries limited him to four games last season. The thing is, age hasn’t at all caught up to the 33-year-old corner.
In 2023, Mosley finished with a career-best 82.9 grade at Pro Football Focus. His 90.6 coverage grade was tops in the league, too. And even in the limited action he saw last year, Mosley still scored a 74.7 PFF grade.
Mosley still has plenty of high-quality football left in him, and it’s honestly stunning that he’s gone unsigned for this long. We sure hope the ex-Baltimore Raven isn’t ready to call it quits, because Mosley has at least one more year in his spectacular NFL career. Possibly more…
Retire: Ezekiel Elliott
“Zeke” is one of many former superstar running backs of his era whose prime ended much sooner than expected. Think of Todd Gurley, DeVonta Freeman, Le’Veon Bell, and David Johnson, among others.
What can we say? Baltimore Ravens star Derrick Henry is an exception to playing at a high level in your 30s, not the rule.
Elliott won two rushing titles in his first three NFL seasons and was crucial in helping the Dak Prescott-led Dallas Cowboys emerge as a consistent playoff team in the NFC. But the All-Pro form of Elliott hasn’t shown up since 2019.
Yes, he was effective in 2020, 2021, and 2022. But 876 rushing yards and 12 touchdowns as Tony Pollard’s understudy in the latter year weren’t enough to justify his hefty contract, and Jerry Jones cut him after the season.
Elliott had an uneventful one-year stop with the New England Patriots in 2023. But in typical Jerry Joens fashion, Elliott was brought back anyway on a one-year deal in 2024. He rushed for 226 yards and three touchdowns, averaging a pathetic 3.1 yards per carry.
So yes, Elliott is done. Here, you had Pollard and Rico Dowdle, of all guys, rushing for 1,000 yards behind the Cowboys’ stacked o-line. Elliott has averaged under four yards per carry in three straight years
Elliott has been a victim of the before-30 wall for four years now. What’s the point of hanging around and hoping a desperate team will sign you when you’re hardly gonna see the ball anyway? Time to call it a career, Zeke. Been a good run, but again, not everyone can defy the before-30 wall like King Henry.
Play One More Year: Teddy Bridgewater
Bridgewater’s initial retirement in 2024 was awfully surprising, given his status as one of the league’s best backup QBs for a while. And he wasn’t by any means “old” for a quarterback at age 31 when he initially walked away.
But like Shaq Barrett, retirement became boring for Bridgewater, who returned to the Detroit Lions late in the 2024 season.
Bridgewater should keep playing because it just feels like his story isn’t complete yet. A gruesome knee injury in 2016 unfortunately derailed his once-promising tenure in Minnesota and forced him into career backup duties.
But as a high-end backup, Teddy Two Gloves will never know when his time to start again will come. Even if he’s unsigned by the time Week 1 rolls around, other teams will eventually want him when they need more QB depth.
Bridgewater has been a solid backup wherever he’s played. He’ll be 33 next season. Why not bank millions more to mostly hold a clipboard and pursue a championship ring? Stick around, Teddy. You’ll never know which team will need you.
