Chargers release Linsley, who is retiring from NFL

LOS ANGELES — The Chargers released center Corey Linsley, the team announced Wednesday. Linsley, who missed the final 14 games of the 2024 season with a non-emergent heart issue, is retiring from the NFL.

“While he has taken his last snap in the NFL, Corey’s story is far from being written,” team president John Spanos said in a statement. “We cannot wait to see what the next chapter has in store for the Linsleys, and we wish Corey, Anna, Seamus, Killian, Quinn and Ruth all the best moving forward.”

In January, Linsley told reporters there was a 99% chance he would retire after doctors advised him that playing football puts him at a higher risk of severe injury moving forward. Linsley declined to go into detail about the specifics of his heart issue.

When he spoke then, Linsley looked much slimmer than his 300-pound playing weight and acknowledged it’s been a part of his plan to remain healthy.

“I mean, Year 10, I don’t know how many years I have left anyway,” Linsley said. “So, it sucks. Obviously, that’s not how I would’ve wanted this to end, but I can’t complain. I can’t be sad about 10 years in. It’s got to end for everybody at some point.

“… I’m thankful for everything that I got to accomplish. Everything. Teams that I’ve been on, the people that I met, the friendships and the battles that we’ve had out there. And there’s so much to be thankful for that I can’t really be too upset.”

The Chargers signed Linsley to a five-year, $62.5 million contract in March 2021. In his first season with the Chargers, Linsley was selected to the only Pro Bowl of his career.

In February, Linsley restructured his contract to the minimum for 2024. The restructure gave the Chargers an extra $10.29 million in cap space, and his release will save the Chargers $1.2 million this season. Linsley has a dead money charge of $2.6 million over the next two seasons.

Linsley, 32, spent the first seven seasons of his career with the Green Bay Packers, who selected him in the fifth round of the 2014 draft. Linsley was named first team All-Pro in 2020, his final season with the Packers.