One of the Jacksonville Jaguars’ longest-tenured players is hanging up his cleats. That player is center Brandon Linder, who has been on the roster for eight seasons, which is tied for the most time on the roster alongside the player who backs him up, Tyler Shatley.
Long-time #Jaguars center Brandon Linder announces his retirement pic.twitter.com/Va4BYrl7mw
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 28, 2022
The news about Linder contemplating retirement broke over a week ago. That news came after he and general manager Trent Baalke met on March 16, which is when the new league year started. According to the Associated Press, Baalke planned to tell Linder that the team was releasing him to help save some cap space, but the organization decided to give Linder time to think about his decision to retire.
Linder was drafted in the 2014 NFL Draft in the third round out of Miami by former Jags general manager Dave Caldwell. He played in 88 games for the Jags (all of which are starts) but has missed over 40 in his entire career. Those injuries range from injuries to his knees, shoulder, ankle, and back.
Linder’s decision will make him a lifelong Jaguar upon his retirement unless he returns to the NFL with another team.
As for the Jags’ plans heading forward, they re-signed Shatley to a two-year deal worth $8.4 million last month. He’s started in 33 games while appearing in 111 throughout his whole tenure. Of course, some of those starts came at center in Linder’s place as well as guard, too.
The Jags could also look to the draft for help along the interior offensive line. There are options like Dylan Parham, Cole Strange, Zion Johnson, Dohnovan West, and Luke Fortner who the Jags could look at, to name a few.