Ex-Atlanta Falcons and current free-agent running back Devonta Freeman pretty much made it clear: nope, he’s not retiring despite the fact that he hasn’t found a new job with an NFL team yet.
But where did this talk about a 28-year-old now three seasons removed from his last 1,000-yard season start? Apparently with an Ian Rapoport segment about Freeman in which he asked if the running back could retire, although Rapoport said it was “more likely” he’d just take what he can get on the open market. And that totally makes sense for a back who turned 28 in March and who hasn’t played a full 16-game slate since 2016.
Freeman responded by tweeting and then deleting, “I got 10 more years in me. Kill that fake retirement (expletive)!! & BTW F all y’all!!”
You can see why he might have rethought that one.
There was also a report last week that Freeman could sit out in 2020:
Devonta Freeman is prepared to sit out the 2020 season if his contract number isn’t met, per @MikeSilver pic.twitter.com/ogI6SOjoZz
— B/R Gridiron (@brgridiron) May 23, 2020
The answer here is that veteran running backs like Freeman who have wear and tear aren’t going to be paid what they think they’re worth, and if they want to play, their price has to come down. Maybe it’s best for him to wait until there’s a training camp injury and the demand goes up.
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