Mathis Retires After 13 Seasons in the NFL

After it was learned that wide receiver Calvin Johnson is leaning towards retirement, the Detroit Lions will also be without veteran cornerback Rashean Mathis.

Mathis had the following to say on his retirement: 

“I’ve been teetering on the fence the last few years,” Mathis said. “I wanted to finish healthy. I wanted to finish on a good note. It was a little sour, my last year in Jacksonville [since] I was coming off an ACL injury, and I think my last three years in Detroit have been amazing…. Being with [Jim] Caldwell for the last two years, I couldn’t ask for anything more to go off on a happy ending.”
Mathis is now 35 years old, and has playing for 13 NFL seasons. He was originally taken with the 39th overall pick in 2003 by the Jacksonville Jaguars. 

Overall, Mathis has played in 175 regular season games over the course of his career, with 32 interceptions. 

The problems are only growing larger for the Lions as they will most likely seek to solve their cornerback issue during the upcoming NFL draft. Will this be a team to be reckoned with in the near future, or are Lions fans in for a long ride ahead of them? 

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