Eddie Goldman Reportedly Could Be Weighing Retirement

One of the most puzzling subplots of the 2021 offseason is Eddie Goldman. The entire saga began last offseason when the star nose tackle decided to opt out of playing in 2020 due to fears of the COVID-19 pandemic. Expectations were he'd be back and ready to go by this spring. Then OTAs and mandatory minicamps arrived. Goldman was a no-show. This led to all sorts of speculation about what could be wrong. Was he planning to opt out again? That was answered when no announcement came following the July 2nd deadline. Some others felt Goldman may have arrived out of shape but sending him away from practices doesn't make much sense in that regard. Maybe he just preferred to work out in his own way before training camp. Yet that explanation didn't ease fears. The worst-case scenario didn't take long to surface.

Is the 27-year old thinking about retiring?

It isn't totally uncommon for NFL players to step away from the game at a relatively young age. Weston Richburg stepped away at 29-years old this year. Andrew Luck called it a career at 30. So did Calvin Johnson. Yet what makes them different is all were hounded by health issues when those decisions were made. Goldman hasn't had that sort of problem. His reasoning would be driven by something else. Is it actually a thing though? Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune poured some serious gas on that fire.

"Goldman hasn’t spoken publicly, which has made it difficult to forecast his next move. The 3 p.m. deadline for players to opt out wasn’t necessarily the thing to watch here. One league source suggested Goldman could be weighing retirement. Perhaps that’s the type of speculation that comes when a player hasn’t been on the field in nearly 19 months, or maybe it’s reason to wonder if Goldman will indeed be rocking and rolling when the Bears reconvene at Halas Hall in less than four weeks."

The ongoing silence from the nose tackle isn't helping matters. He could easily silence everything with a simple tweet or Instagram post about his intentions. Yet he remains completely off the grid. This only continues to feed into the narrative that he might be contemplating a premature end to his career. It also might explain why the Bears were active in adding help at nose tackle this offseason with guys like Khyiris Tonga and Mike Pennel. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U7aZ_04UXjk&ab_channel=ChicagoBears

Eddie Goldman fears won't die until July 31st

That is when players must report for training camp. If Goldman shows up? Great, that means he aims to play in 2021. If he doesn't? That is when the retirement speculation will gain serious traction. Some people remain confident the big nose tackle will be present and accounted for. Bill Zimmerman of Windy City Gridiron made it clear that sources close to Goldman said he will be at Halas Hall when the time comes.

Then again, minds change fast in this business. Eddie Goldman has carried himself like somebody who likes football but doesn't need it. While this is a perfectly healthy attitude to have, it paints a picture of where the Bears find themselves. They want him back, but they can't fully trust whether he will return or not. All they can do is make contingency plans for either scenario and hope for the best.

Worrying about it serves little purpose.

Goldman is fast becoming a controversial figure among Bears fans. They grew to love him since he first arrived in 2015. They felt he was one of the most underrated players at his position in the NFL. Now though? His extended absence and refusal to be transparent are turning a lot of people against him. One thing fans hate as much as bad football is the feeling they're being jerked around.