Ryan Kalil‘s 12th NFL season will be his last. The decorated Panthers center informed the Charlotte Observer’s Joe Person that this upcoming campaign will mark the conclusion to his NFL career.
A two-time first-team All-Pro performer, Kalil was limited to just six regular-season games in 2017 by a neck injury. He said the Panthers’ medical staff and a specialist he saw after the season cleared him to return to action, so the Panthers can pencil him back into their starting lineup.
That hasn’t been a surefire proposition, with the former USC standout playing just 14 games over the past two seasons. Prior to that, he’d suited up for at least 15 contests six times in a seven-year span — with five Pro Bowls and two All-Pro distinctions having occurred during that time.
Ryan and Matt Kalil will play a second season alongside one another, per Person, and the elder Kalil will have an offseason to prepare after being limited in 2017 because of a shoulder surgery.
“I’m excited about is to actually have an offseason to train because I haven’t had that. I didn’t get that last year and I think that’s part of what contributed to my injury this last season,” said Ryan Kalil, who will turn 33 in March. “I didn’t get to start training until right around training camp, like actually football training. I just felt way behind and I didn’t feel as physically ready for the season as I would have liked to have been.”
The Panthers drafted Kalil in the second round in 2012, and he’s been one of the best players in team history. Kalil served as the pivotman during the Panthers’ Super Bowl 50 run and played every game of the Panthers’ 2008, ’13 and ’14 playoff seasons. He will earn $4.5MM in base salary next season and take up $9.575MM of Carolina’s cap.
Wait…what? Check your math. He couldn’t have been drafted in 2012, and played in the league for 11 years….lol. He was drafted in 2007.