Rob Ninkovich To Retire

Longtime Patriots stalwart Rob Ninkovich, 33, is expected to announce his retirement this afternoon, according to Mike Reiss of ESPN.com. Just last week, we heard that Ninkovich, who was entering a contract season, would not play for anyone other than New England. Now, it seems, he will play for no one at all.

Rob Ninkovich (vertical)

Ninkovich was selected by the Saints in the fifth round of the 2006 draft and spent several years with the Dolphins, but his career did not blossom until he signed with the Pats in 2009. Since 2010, he has posted at least four sacks per season as a versatile defensive end/linebacker, including three consecutive eight-sack seasons from 2012-14.

All in all, Ninkovich piled up 423 tackles and 46 sacks during his tenure with the Patriots. He appeared in 17 playoff games, including 16 starts, and was a key member of two Super Bowl-winning teams. A classic overachiever, Ninkovich was also a team leader, serving as a captain in 2013 and 2015.

As Reiss observes, Ninkovich appeared in only 44.3% of the team’s defensive snaps in the 2016 regular season, though that was due in large part to the fact that he served a four-game suspension to open the season after testing positive for a banned substance. But in the Pats’ most critical games at the end of the year, Ninkovich’s snap count spiked, underscoring his importance to the club. The last game of his career, of course, will be a Super Bowl triumph.

The team was counting on another solid season from the Purdue product in 2017. The Pats will turn first to Kony Ealy — who was acquired in a trade with the Panthers this offseason — to replace Ninkovich’s production. Michael Lombardi of The Ringer tweets that Deatrich Wise, Jr., whom New England selected in the fourth round of this year’s draft, is also a player to watch. The Patriots will need someone like Wise or fellow rookie Derek Rivers to step up in a big way, as Doug Kyed of NESN.com writes, because New England’s pass rush without Ninkovich looks rather thin.

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