HEADLINES

49ers’ Joe Staley To Retire From NFL

April 25th, 2020 at 11:50am CST by Zachary Links

Now, the Trent Williams trade makes even more sense for the 49ers. Six-time Pro Bowler Joe Staley informed the club that he will retire due to “health concerns”, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (on Twitter) reports. Specifically, it was Staley’s neck injury that forced him to make the decision, as Matt Barrows of The Athletic tweets. The ailment become especially painful in San Francisco’s playoff run, and doctors informed him that it had become quite serious.

[RELATED: 49ers Trade For Trent Williams]

Staley, 35, has been one of the league’s best offensive tackles for years. And, out of loyalty to the team, he gave the Niners a quiet heads up on his plans so that they could replace him. 49ers GM John Lynch, in turn, swung a deal for seven-time Pro Bowler Trent Williams.

Staley has reportedly been pondering retirement for a while now, despite repeated denials. In January, Staley insisted that he would continue playing despite a slew of injuries, including a broken fibula suffered in Week 2 of the 2019 season.

“I don’t know why everyone’s been asking me that question,” Staley said. “Because I got injured, everyone’s like, ‘Oh, you’re going to be retiring now.’” He added,“I signed a contract here. I still love playing football. It’s like the ninth time someone’s asked me that, and I’m starting to wonder why.”

Staley first entered the league as the No. 28 overall pick in the 2007 draft. Despite the medical hiccups, he played hard right through the end. In the season finale against the Seahawks, he turned in his best performance of the year to help SF lock down the top seed in the NFC. And, with Staley up front, the 49ers reached the Super Bowl to cap the campaign.

Before all of that, Staley was able to stay relatively healthy and play through the pain. He missed just four games from 2011-18 and was named to five Pro Bowls in that span. Despite being in his 12th pro season in 2018, Staley graded as Pro Football Focus’ No. 6 overall tackle – and that was actually a slight drop from his performances for most of the decade.

Staley leaves the sport after 181 games played, good for eleventh on the 49ers’ all-time list. As of last year, Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald was the only active non-quarterback to start more games for the team that drafted him than Staley.

Staley indicated he wants to remain in football in some capacity and has discussions with the 49ers in that regard (Twitter link via Nick Wagoner of ESPN.com). He also has media options to consider, but he will spend 2020 with his family before entering the next chapter of his football life.

We here at PFR wish Staley the best in retirement.

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