Time to Hang it Up: 5 NFL Wide Receivers Who Should Retire Before the 2025 Season

Joey's list of five NFL wide receivers who should retire before the start of the 2025 season. His top veterans and aging players who could retire this offseason.

Retiring from something you love is not easy. These players have been dominating on the football field from a young age, and most of them want to play as long as possible. Sometimes, though, it might just be time to hang it up.

Before the start of the 2024 season, notable players Matt Ryan, Jason Kelce, Darren Waller, and Aaron Donald all decided it was time to call it quits. Even seven-time Pro Bowl wide receiver Julio Jones announced his retirement just a few months ago after playing 13 seasons in the NFL. All these players decided to retire following productive careers.

So, let's look at which wide receivers should be calling it quits before the 2025-2026 campaign. The five players featured on this list are way past their prime and should be riding off into the sunset.

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Keenan Allen, Free Agent

There's no questioning that wide receiver Keenan Allen was one of the top wide receivers in the NFL early in his career. He finished second in the Offensive Rookie Player of the Year voting in 2013 and made five straight Pro Bowls from 2017 to 2021. During those five straight Pro Bowl campaigns, Allen caught at least 97 passes in all five years while totaling over 1,100 in four of those five seasons.

Allen really emerged as a reliable target in that Chargers offense for over a decade. Part of his success came from having two elite passers throwing to him in those 11 years. He had Philip Rivers as his quarterback from 2013 to 2019 and then Justin Herbert from 2020 to 2024. Herbert also helped the California product earn a Pro Bowl selection in his final season with the Chargers in 2024.

Los Angeles eventually traded him to the Chicago Bears last offseason in exchange for a fourth-round pick. However, the usual results weren't there for the veteran. He finished with 70 catches for 744 yards and seven touchdowns in 2024 and finished with the fewest receiving yards per game (49.6) of his career.

Late night reminder that Keenan Allen is still a Free Agent 🤷‍♂️
pic.twitter.com/eSHGp5oLtH

— SleeperNFL (@SleeperNFL) June 8, 2025

Given Allen's subpar 2024 campaign and the fact that he is still a free agent, it might be time for the veteran to think about retiring. He just turned 33 years old and likely doesn't have much left in the tank. If he doesn't retire before the 2025 season, he should in 2026.

Robert Woods, Pittsburgh Steelers

Wide receiver Robert Woods didn't make much of an impact in his early years with the Buffalo Bills. He totaled under 700 receiving yards in each of his first four NFL seasons. Once Woods left Buffalo, though, he started to show his potential. The former USC product signed a multi-year deal with the Los Angeles Rams in 2017 and was immediately featured in that offense.

Woods totaled 56 catches for 781 yards and five touchdowns in his first season with the Rams before fully breaking out in 2018. The 6-foot wideout caught 86 passes for a career-high 1,219 yards and six touchdowns in his second year with the team. He began to develop a strong connection with quarterback Jared Goff during this span and formed an elite wide receiver duo with Cooper Kupp in Los Angeles.

Woods continued to put up solid all-around numbers in 2020, catching 90 passes for 936 yards. Unfortunately, he tore his ACL in November of 2021 and hasn't been the same since. The veteran only totaled 527 yards with the Tennessee Titans in 2022 and combined for 629 yards with the Houston Texans over the past two years.

It's clear that Woods has lost a significant step since tearing his ACL a few years ago and won't be the same player, especially since he has just turned 33 years old. Even though he signed a one-year deal with the Pittsburgh Steelers this past offseason, it's hard to imagine him becoming a major factor in that Pittsburgh pass offense.

He's better off retiring before the 2025 season begins.

Odell Beckham Jr., Free Agent

There aren't many wide receivers in NFL history who started their career as strongly as Odell Beckham Jr. The former LSU star totaled over 90 catches and 1,300 receiving yards in each of his first three seasons. He totaled 4,122 receiving yards in that span, which ranks third all-time for most receiving yards by a player in his first three years.

Only Justin Jefferson (4,825) and Randy Moss (4,163) have totaled more.

After earning a Pro Bowl selection in all three of those seasons, many believed that he was going to be the next great NFL wide receiver. However, injuries have certainly played a part in Beckham's failure to reach those lofty expectations. He played in just four games in 2017 due to an ankle fracture, seven games in 2020 due to a torn ACL, and missed the entire 2022 season after tearing his ACL in Super Bowl LVI.

Overcoming all those injuries is not easy. Beckham hasn't reached the 1,000-yard threshold since 2019 and has totaled under 600 receiving yards in four straight seasons. Last year, the veteran played for the Miami Dolphins, where he caught just nine passes for 55 yards across nine games.

ODELL BECKHAM JR.

📺: #CLEvsDAL on FOX
📱: NFL app // Yahoo Sports app: https://t.co/wvEEn0SFTV pic.twitter.com/A8P7Hx8E7H

— NFL (@NFL) October 4, 2020

With Beckham still unsigned, it's time for him to hang it up. He will turn 33 years old in November and hasn't shown much on the field in the last five years. It would be pretty shocking to see a team take a chance on him in 2025, making retirement a possibility for the three-time Pro Bowler.

Allen Robinson, Free Agent

Wide receiver Allen Robinson showed some nice things early in his career. He totaled 48 catches for 548 yards as a rookie in 2014 and then broke out the following season with 80 catches for 1,400 yards and 14 touchdowns. That strong campaign earned Robinson the first and only Pro Bowl selection of his career. 

Despite that lone Pro Bowl, Robinson had plenty of productive seasons in the middle of his career. After tearing his ACL in 2017, the Penn State product signed a multi-year deal with the Bears in free agency. He only totaled 754 yards in his first year in Chicago (2018) before going off in each of the next two seasons. 

Robinson was Mitchell Trubisky's favorite target in the passing game, and the wideout totaled a combined 200 catches for 2,397 yards and 13 touchdowns between the 2019 and 2020 seasons. Sadly, that 2020 campaign was the last time we saw him at the top of his game. 

143 yards and a TD.

EVERY catch from @AllenRobinson's Wild Card performance. #PHIvsCHI pic.twitter.com/NgQiV25kEI

— NFL (@NFL) January 7, 2019

He has totaled under 420 receiving yards in four straight seasons and has played with four different teams during that span (Bears, Rams, Steelers, and Lions). In his most recent season with the Lions, Robinson only caught three passes for 30 yards while seeing just 91 total snaps. The former second-round pick really didn't contribute much last year. 

Therefore, Robinson should call it quits before the 2025 season. He is still without a team at this point in the offseason and turns 32 years old later in August. The veteran is not the same wide receiver he was earlier in his career. 

Jamison Crowder, Free Agent

Wide receiver Jamison Crowder has never been a star in the NFL. However, Crowder has put together some solid receiving campaigns in his career. He caught 67 passes for 847 yards and seven touchdowns in 2016, reeled in 78 passes for 833 yards and six touchdowns in 2019, and totaled 59 catches for 699 yards and six touchdowns in 2020. 

Crowder was really an underrated target in each of those seasons. He spent his first four years with Washington (2015 to 2018) before playing with the New York Jets for three years (2019 to 2021). Once his deal with the Jets expired in 2021, the former Duke alum has seen limited snaps.

He signed a one-year deal with the Bills before the 2022 season but only totaled six catches for 60 yards across four games. He then went back to where he started and signed with the Commanders in 2023. Although he spent the past two years in Washington, he has been a non-factor in the passing game in both of those seasons. 

So, it's time for Crowder to announce his retirement. He remains a free agent and just turned 32 years old. There's a strong chance that he won't get signed before the 2025 season. 

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