Fifth-year NFL tight end Jake Butt has retired from the league at 26 years old.
Featured on a list of players added to reserves on Wednesday, Butt has officially called it quits. Reasoning for his retirement decision has yet to be released.
NFL Network insider Tom Pelissero pointed out Butt’s name on the Bears’ reserve list.
Also in there: #Bears TE Jake Butt retired. https://t.co/ZvBvEs3GuB
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) July 28, 2021
Butt’s football career has been riddled with injuries.
To cap off his outstanding campaign with the Michigan Wolverines from 2013-16, the standout TE suffered a torn ACL in the 2016 Orange Bowl — the final game of his collegiate career. Originally projected to go somewhere in the first two rounds of the NFL Draft, this injury saw Butt slide all the way down to a fifth-round, 145th overall selection to the Denver Broncos in 2017.
After spending the entire 2017 season on the injured reserve list, Butt finally made his NFL debut for the Broncos in 2018. Through three starts at secondary tight end, the Denver TE logged eight receptions for 85 yards. Unfortunately, he suffered yet another ACL tear in practice early on in the 2018 season.
Butt spent another full season on the injured reserve in 2019 before making his return in 2020. Through five games this past season, he logged just two receptions for five yards before suffering another season-ending hamstring injury.
With his rookie contract expiring with the Broncos, Butt was picked up by the Bears back in June.
Now just over a month later, his time in the NFL has come to an end.
The post Veteran NFL Tight End Announces Retirement At 26 appeared first on The Spun.