Is Detroit Lions receiver Calvin Johnson considering retirement?

Detroit Lions star wide receiver Calvin Johnson is considering retirement.

At the scouting combine in 2007, Johnson was the receiver everyone wanted to get a closer look at after he caught 15 touchdowns at Georgia Tech as a junior.

Calvin Johnson is on the wrong side of 30, add on the wear and tear of being targeted over 1300 times in 7 years and135 games to give you an idea on just how much of a work horse that is, Terrell Owens was targeted 1,711 times in 219 games. He said Wednesday that no teams reached out to him; they are barred from doing so unless they have the Saints’ permission. However, there were no premeditated announcements hinting that he might retire. It’s not something people usually grapple with in public. His $24 million salary cap hit would account for one-sixteenth of the Lions salary cap. That leaves him three options: 1) renegotiate, 2) try and orchestrate a trade/move or 3) quit.

Throughout the first nine years of his career, the 30-year-old has played against them as divisional rivals. Johnson has been to the postseason just twice, not consecutively, and has never tasted playoff victory.

“Like many players at this stage of their career, I am now evaluating options for my future”, Johnson said on Wednesday in a statement released by the NFC North franchise. He’s on bad team in a city people have abandoned in droves over the past few decades. It is also his first full season since then.

In Detroit’s last home game, he caught six passes for 77 yards in a win over San Francisco.

A change of scenery could help. He reported that Johnson is chilling with his family and not thinking about his decision. The only way to escape from Detroit is to retire. His numbers don’t sustain an argument.

But Johnson is more than just a production machine – hence the name “Megatron” – he’s an athletic freak that at one point was so unstoppable that even when defenses had literally no other player on the Lions worth covering, it didn’t matter. He would be tied with Hines Ward for tied for 12th in career receptions, No. 13 in receiving yards, and seventh in touchdowns.

“So for me, I understand that its too soon, but knowing Calvin and playing with Calvin hes banged up and hes been banged up. That GM presumably also will have the say over what happens with Johnson and Stafford.

This is not to take away from Calvin Johnson’s career. St. Louis will likely try to keep many of those players – especially Jenkins and Hayes – which will hurt their financial flexibility but should leave a significant amount of space to make moves.