While at the Pro Bowl in January, guard Logan Mankins said that he was going to take his time and “make the right decision” about whether or not to return to the Buccaneers for the 2016 season.
Mankins has taken that time and the decision is reportedly one that will leave the Bucs in need of a new starting guard next season. Ian Rapoport of NFL Media and Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times are both reporting Monday that Mankins will retire.
Mankins spent the first nine years of his 11-year NFL career with the Patriots, starting 130 games and making six Pro Bowls while helping the Patriots advance to a pair of Super Bowls. He was traded to the Buccaneers for tight end Tim Wright and a fourth-round pick before the 2014 season and started 31 more games for the Bucs over the last two seasons.
Mankins was set to make $7 million this season and some of that money will likely be devoted to the search for someone to take his spot on the interior of Tampa Bay’s offensive line.
