There will be no training camp return in a new uniform for C.J. Mosley. His final game with the Jets last fall against the Steelers was the last game of his career.
Mosley retired on Thursday, his 33rd birthday, according to multiple reports. The Jets cut Mosley back in March six years after he joined the team as a coveted free agent. He played just four games in 2024 because of toe and neck injuries.
In his 10-season NFL career, which started with the Ravens as the 17th overall pick out of Alabama in 2024, Mosley was a five-time Pro Bowler and a five-time, second-team, All-Pro.
He earned one Pro Bowl and All-Pro selection in five seasons with the Jets where he leaves behind a complicated legacy.
Mosley was arguably the best middle linebacker in the game when the Jets signed him to a five-year, $81 million deal with $51 million guaranteed in March of 2019.
He looked better than advertised in his Jets debut at MetLife Stadium against the Bills, but he suffered a core muscle injury at the end of the third quarter. The Jets lost and Mosley would have to wait two years before he completed his first healthy game with the Jets, needing season-ending surgery after he later admitted he rushed to return for an October 2019 game against the Patriots.
Mosley sat out 2020 because of the pandemic, and by the time he arrived in 2021 he was hearing criticism from fans for his massive contract and almost non existent contributions.
He never quite looked like his dominant self of old, but Mosley continued to improve through the 2021 season and in 2022 was the unquestioned leader of a surprising Jets defense that became one of the best in the league, and returned to being one of the best linebackers in the league with a Pro Bowl and second-team All-Pro selection.
By the start of the 2024 season, Mosley admitted he had lost a step or two but he was now a fan favorite, regarded in the locker room simply “the captain” and there was still optimism he could be a part of a team that would contend for a playoff spot and maybe more with Aaron Rodgers.
But it went poorly almost immediately. Mosley hurt his toe in the Week 2 win over the Titans and it quickly became clear that he’d be in a battle for his starting spot with Jamien Sherwood when he did return.
Mosley was back on the field for Weeks 6 and 7 against the Bills and Steelers but managed only 31 snaps combined, a far cry from the 67 he played Week 1 before the toe injury.
And then Week 8, as he got ready to play the Patriots in Foxborough, Mosley said his neck locked up during warmups. He watched the game from the sideline. He never got back on the field.
Mosley leaves the NFL after a remarkable but strange career. He never reached his goal of turning the Jets around, but he did turn the fans’ opinion of him around with his smart, hard-nosed play.
And if the Jets figure it out under this new regime, Mosley will deserve some of the credit for the leadership he provided to the young players who are still the core moving forward.
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Andy Vasquez may be reached at avasquez@njadvancemedia.com.