LB Thomas Davis Won’t Get New Contract With the Carolina Panthers

Thomas Davis. Photo by Scott Kinser/CSM/REX/Shutterstock

After spending 14 seasons with the Carolina Panthers, during which he earned three Pro Bowl appearances and First Team All-Pro honors, linebacker Thomas Davis is parting way with the organization.

The 35-year-old posted a video on his Twitter profile on Wednesday, saying that the Panthers told him they are going in “a different direction at the linebacker position” and won’t offer him a new contract.

“It was extremely tough for me to deal with,” said Davis in the video. “That’s why you guys are just hearing from me right now because I wanted to be back. I wanted to be part of a group that came and just [righted] the wrongs that we had this season. As one of the leaders of this team, I took full responsibility for some of the things that we allowed to happen and the games that we lost consecutively. I wanted to come back and wanted to help fix that. Unfortunately I’m not going to have that opportunity.”

The exit from Carolina, however, doesn’t mean Davis will retire from football.

“I’m not retiring,” – he added. “I feel like I have way too much football left in me to walk away from the game right now. So I want to keep playing. I’m going to keep playing.

After being selected 14th overall in the 2005 NFL Draft by the Panthers, Thomas Davis went on to play a total of 176 games in the league managing to get 1,094 tackles and 28.0 sacks. He also added 13 interceptions, 18 forced fumbles, and 11 fumble recoveries during that period.

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