OT: Luke Kuechly Retires

Can’t run a cover two without a guy like keuchly. He’s the key to the whole thing

One of the all-time greats. He's absolutely in the GOAT conversation.
A beast on the field. Awesome runstopper, passrusher and one the best coverage lbs I've ever seen. Tough,smart,fast.
Maybe my favorite BC player of all-time, possibly ahead of Flutie.
Living close to the NC/SC line, in the heart of Panthers country, I saw his entire NFL career.
If I had to pick one ilb/mlb at his peak, I'm taking Luke over anyone.
Could do more than anyone at that position than anybody who ever played.

Just saw the news, kind of a surprise. Fantastic player, best lb of the decade with wagner and seems like a good dude too.
He's settled for life, better go enjoy it before something serious happen

A good kid. Good luck Luke.

jimnance said:

One of the all-time greats. He's absolutely in the GOAT conversation.
A beast on the field. Awesome runstopper, passrusher and one the best coverage lbs I've ever seen. Tough,smart,fast.
Maybe my favorite BC player of all-time, possibly ahead of Flutie.
Living close to the NC/SC line, in the heart of Panthers country, I saw his entire NFL career.
If I had to pick one ilb/mlb at his peak, I'm taking Luke over anyone.
Could do more than anyone at that position than anybody who ever played.

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His motor was unreal - and his undoing

That was holding on Gronk.

And thank you, Luke. You balled the right way.

Perhaps too soon, but:

In 2020, Kuechly will earn a base salary of $10,300,059 and a workout bonus of $500,000, while carrying a cap hit of $15,512,573 and a dead cap value of $11,845,028.

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... and all his signing bonus was paid, so he was a prime candidate to be a cap casualty in the off season. The link says he made $63M playing football plus I'm sure a lot of endorsement money so it makes sense to take the money and run.

Ref: Luke Kuechly

JarOfMayo51 said:

Thats a huge loss for the Panthers

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huge win for Kuechly

bormio said:

His motor was unreal - and his undoing

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Undoing? He’s smart to GTFO

IllegalContact said:

Undoing? He’s smart to GTFO

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Agree. He played at only one speed - all out - and likely took years off his career. He has had a lot of bad hits. The damage done might not yet be apparent.

So far in the thread no mention of Luke's age. It's 28. Retiring at this age as a remarkable defensive star is a big and telling story, one that will not be lost on the countries youth. I wonder what Luke's thoughts are about TB at 42, and talking convincingly of 45. But, maybe he and Gronk can team up at CBS or is it ESPN (forgot).

Good for him. I will always admire these guys making a tough decision like this that they know is best in the long run. He should be a hall of famer. 7 time Pro Bowler, 5 time All Pro, defensive rookie of the year, and DPOY.

bormio said:

Agree. He played at only one speed - all out - and likely took years off his career. He has had a lot of bad hits. The damage done might not yet be apparent.

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Luke played the way Gronk and Jules played(play): full-throttle, balls-out all the time.
It's the only way they know how to play and the only way they should play.
It's part of their greatness.
Yes, it shortens your career. So what. I have mad respect for all 3. Better s few short years of greatness than a long career of mediocrity.
Mark Bavaro same thing. 2nd best te I've ever seen after Gronk. Better than Ditka,Winslow,Newsome,Tony G,Gates etc.
Bo Jackson. 2nd best rb I've seen after Jim Brown. Same style of player as those above. I respect Emmit Smith but he's not in the same class as Bo. Neither is Walter Payton. Don't care how many yards they racked up or how long they played. Bo Jackson was head and shoulders better than everyone except Brown. And they all know it.

At first glance this was shocking and sad. After digesting it though, it’s so wonderful in the grand scheme that he can walk away now on his own terms.

Fantastic player and all round good guy from reports. I hope he has a fantastic retired life .
Best of luck Luke !

I thought the guy should've retired after that last concussion. He was barely hit when it happened. His brain must be pretty damaged already if he gets concussed on a hit like that. I was worried that he was one big hit from not getting up at all.

I can see him coaching in the future.

I think he could get into coaching or broadcasting.

Can’t blame him one bit. Great player, class act.

Bill Lee said:

Perhaps too soon, but:

... and all his signing bonus was paid, so he was a prime candidate to be a cap casualty in the off season. The link says he made $63M playing football plus I'm sure a lot of endorsement money so it makes sense to take the money and run.

Ref: Luke Kuechly

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Down here is SC he's like the main sports endorser for the local/regional businesses. There will be several commercials featuring him during football game broadcasts. That's even with Charlestonians not being Panther fans (although I guess the media buys cover multiple states.)

He's walking away from probably $40MM or more in contract money alone, presuming a line backer might play into his early thirties.