Eagles' Brooks announces retirement

Philadelphia Eagles guard Brandon Brooks announced his retirement from football Wednesday, according to Mike Garafolo of NFL Network.

Brooks began his career with the Houston Texans in 2012. The former third-round pick then established himself as one of the NFL's best offensive linemen, making three Pro Bowl appearances and winning one Super Bowl title with Philly from 2016-21.

"The past six years, I wouldn't trade for the world," Brooks said Wednesday, according to Kevin Patra of NFL.com. "It didn't end the way I would have liked it, but to me, it's never about the ending, it's about the journey."

The 32-year-old played his best football from 2017-19, starting 48 games over that span. However, he struggled to stay healthy over the last two years. A torn Achilles forced him to miss the entire 2020 season before a pectoral injury limited him to only two appearances in 2021.

"It's something I wrestled with since really last offseason," he said of his recent injuries. "I think in this game, although I'm a young man in the game of life, I'm older now at 32, I think my body is trying to tell me through these injuries that, can I still play? The answer is yes. But the answer also is, can I hold up? After all these injuries, I just realized that, at what point do you listen to your body? I think my body was just telling me I had to make a decision."

Brooks hangs up his cleats with 114 career appearances, including 108 starts.

He recently reworked his contract with the Eagles to reduce his cap number for 2022, a source told ESPN's Field Yates. The move reportedly gave Philly an additional $12.38 million in salary cap space entering the offseason.

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