Time To Hang It Up: Five NFL Wide Receivers That Should Retire Before The 2024 Season

June 15, 2024

Aidin Ebrahimi analyzes which wide receivers should think about retiring before the 2024 NFL season starts. These wideouts may not be as effective as they once were.

Just like every year, we saw many NFL stars hang up their boots in the 2024 offseason. Legends of the game, such as Aaron Donald, Fletcher Cox, Jason Kelce, Matt Ryan, and Matthew Slater, are just some of the names that will no longer play in 2024.

Former 1000-yard WR DeVante Parker also shockingly announced his retirement despite signing with the Eagles two months prior to his announcement. This got us thinking, who are some other WRs who could/should retire before opening day?

Without further ado, let's look at five wide receivers that should retire before the 2024 season.

Julio Jones, Free Agent

Julio Jones is one of the most talented wideouts of his generation, and it looked like he'd be one of the rare players at his position who would keep performing well into his 30s. After averaging almost 1600 yards per season from 2014 to 2018, Jones continued his brilliance in 2019, the first season of his 30s.

He made the All-Pro second team for the third consecutive year and finished as the PPR fantasy WR3. He kicked the 2020 season off in style, recording 157 yards (15th most in a game of his career) against the Seahawks.

Julio Jones on the Eagles sideline watching the team he ring chased with last year destroy his current ring chase pic.twitter.com/HtLVXHBJmz

— SleeperNFL (@SleeperNFL) January 16, 2024

But then, persistent hamstring issues kept him out for most of the season. He still managed to put up 90+ yards in five out of his nine games that year and was viewed as a big trade target once he requested a trade from Atlanta. He was traded to Tennessee, but those hamstring injuries ruined his tenure there.

He tried to save his career in Tampa Bay and Philadelphia, but it's clear that the former superstar is now a shell of his former self. He has averaged just 26.0 yards per game over his last three seasons, which is a far cry for a man who has had five separate seasons of averaging 100+ yards per game.

Willie Snead IV, Free Agent

The story of Willie Snead IV is a cautionary tale. Snead bypassed his senior season at Ball State and declared for the 2014 NFL Draft to support his pregnant girlfriend but went undrafted as scouts thought he should have stayed in college for another year. Snead then bounced around several practice squads before landing in New Orleans.

Snead was named as the team's WR4 in 2015 but exceeded all expectations and would have finished the year with 1000+ yards had he played just one more game.

Willie Snead: “Let guys compete” blah blah blah

Also Willie Snead: https://t.co/9qZ3btvAIs pic.twitter.com/ONDyV2wnJl

— Leo Luna (@LeoLuna93) May 4, 2024

Snead, Brandin Cooks, and Michael Thomas formed a solid trio in 2016, powering the second-best offense in the NFL. After Cooks' departure in the 2017 offseason, Snead and Thomas were destined to be New Orleans' starting WRs for many years to come. But on June 11, 2017, Snead drove while intoxicated and crashed his car.

He was suspended for three games and fell out of favor with the team after suffering hamstring and toe injuries. After a solid, if not spectacular three-year stint in Baltimore, he became a journeyman and has racked up just 52 receiving yards in the last three seasons. Snead could have been a star, but one mistake changed his career's trajectory forever, and now his future in the league is in jeopardy.

Michael Thomas, Free Agent

Speaking of Michael Thomas, he benefitted from Snead's demise, becoming Drew Brees' go-to guy. Thomas improved in each of his first four seasons in the league, culminating in a fantastic 2019 season.

He broke the record for the most receptions in a single season (149) en route to winning the 2019 Offensive Player of the Year. At the time, only Jerry Rice, Antonio Brown, Randy Moss, Marvin Harrison Sr., Isaac Bruce, Herman Moore, and Julio Jones had recorded more fantasy points in a season than Thomas' 374.6 PPR points in 2019.

pic.twitter.com/MuXDlrKVcY

— Michael Thomas (@Cantguardmike) March 10, 2024

However, as we all know, things would all go downhill from there for Thomas. An ankle sprain in Week 1 of the 2020 season would derail his career, as he went on to miss nine games that year. He underwent surgery to fix the problem in 2021, but he had a setback that required another surgery, which caused him to miss the entire season.

A foot injury made him miss 14 games in 2022, and by 2023, Thomas was a shell of his former self. The Saints decided against bringing him back, and it's unlikely that another team will take a chance on such an injury-prone player.

Allen Robinson II, New York Giants

Unlike Thomas, Allen Robinson has managed to successfully bounce back from a devastating injury setback once in his career. He tore his ACL in the 2017 season opener, which would turn out to be his final game as a Jacksonville Jaguar.

The Bears took a chance on him, and it paid off big time as Robinson helped the team make the playoffs twice during the Mitch Trubisky era. When the Bears moved on from Trubisky in 2021, Robinson struggled and only had 410 yards. But his struggles were downplayed by the media.

allen robinson in a giants uniform would’ve broke giants twitter three years ago pic.twitter.com/3PjydyCGhD

— Andrew (@gmengalaxy) May 20, 2024

He got a good contract to join the Rams, who had just won Super Bowl 56 and looked poised to repeat. Robinson was a terrible fit in the Rams' system and barely got any attention from Matthew Stafford, who kept feeding Cooper Kupp.

A foot fracture ended his season prematurely, and he failed to provide a spark for the Steelers in 2023. Now, he has signed with the Giants, but it's unclear if he'll make the final roster.

Randall Cobb, Free Agent

Randall Cobb is mostly known nowadays as Aaron Rodgers' "bestie," but he was actually a good player for Green Bay back in the day. He made the Pro Bowl in 2014, but a bunch of minor injuries piled up on top of each other and gradually reduced his effectiveness.

In 2019, he joined the Cowboys, where he had a good season, followed by signing a massive contract with the Texans. He was disappointing in Houston and was brought back to Green Bay at the request of Rodgers.

Aaron Rodgers and Randall Cobb walking off the field and into the tunnel....https://t.co/t0uI3UA2QZ

— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) January 9, 2023

By that point, it was clear that Cobb wasn't the same player he once was, missing multiple games due to injury. He famously walked out of the tunnel with Rodgers in their final game for Green Bay against the Lions in 2022, which would have been the perfect ending to their working relationship.

But Cobb signed with the Jets to join Rodgers' new team in the offseason. The duo would only play one game together in New York, as Rodgers suffered a season-ending Achilles tear just four snaps into his Jets tenure. Cobb only caught five passes for the rest of the season, and another reunion with Rodgers is very unlikely.

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