Carolina Panthers’ center Ryan Kalil decided to make his 12th NFL season his last one. The 32-year-old has revealed that he plans on to retire after 2018 season wraps up. 2018 will also be the final year Kalil’s contract which sees him earning $4.5 million in base salary.
“This is going to be the last one for me,” – Kalil told the Observer. “I’m not doing the farewell tour, that’s for sure.“
The five-time Pro Bowler hopes that his last season as a Panther won’t be spoiled by injuries. Khalil only managed to play six games in 2017 due to a neck injury. He also failed to attend much of a training camp before the season, something he hopes won’t be the case now.
“The thing 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 Kalil. “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.“
Ryan Kalil spent his college career with the USC Trojans football team, before entering the 2007 NFL Draft. After impressive showings at the NFL Combine, he was taken by the Carolina Panthers with the 59th overall pick. Kalil established himself as the team’s starting center in his second season and never looked back. Besides five Pro Bowl selections, Kalil was also two times First-team All-Pro and one-time Second-team All-Pro.
