UPDATE (11:40 a.m.): The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have made it official: Logan Mankins retired Monday after 11 NFL seasons.
“It is always difficult losing a player of Logan’s caliber both on the field and in the locker room,” Buccaneers general manager Jason Licht said in a statement released by the team. “He is one of the toughest, most intelligent and skilled players at his position that I have seen in my years around this game.
“Logan distinguished himself as the ultimate professional over his 11-year career and he was an unquestioned leader for us over the past two seasons. His leadership, work ethic and selflessness played a key role in the development of our younger players and he set the standard which we use to evaluate all of our offensive linemen.”
ORIGINAL STORY:Â It appears Peyton Manning isn’t the only perennial NFL Pro Bowl player who will call it quits this week.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers guard Logan Mankins is retiring after 11 seasons in the league, a source told NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport on Monday. ESPN’s Adam Caplan also reported the news.
Mankins, who will turn 34 on Thursday, spent his last two seasons with the Bucs but will be best remembered for his role as an anchor on the New England Patriots’ offensive line. The Patriots selected Mankins with the 32nd overall pick in the 2005 NFL Draft, and the Fresno State product made an immediate impact, switching from his college position of tackle to start all 16 games at left guard in his rookie season.
Mankins started every game at left guard for New England during his first five seasons in the league, earning his first Pro Bowl appearance in 2007 after allowing only one sack during the team’s undefeated regular season. He missed the first seven games of the Patriots’ 2010 campaign while holding out for a new contract but returned to earn another spot in the Pro Bowl. In 2011, he tore his ACL during the first game of the season but went on to start in the next 15 games.
Mankins has been named to seven Pro Bowls, six of which came with New England, but he never won a Super Bowl with the Patriots. The team traded him to the Bucs during the 2014 preseason in exchange for tight end Tim Wright and a fourth-round pick and went on to win a title in his absence.
Thumbnail photo via Stew Milne/USA TODAY Sports Images
