Anquan Boldin won’t be lining up for the Buffalo Bills this season after all.
The wide receiver has informed the team he is retiring, he told ESPN in a statement.
“Football has afforded me a platform throughout my career to have a greater impact on my humanitarian work, and at this time I feel drawn to make the larger fight for human rights a priority,” Boldin said in the statement. ” My life’s purpose is bigger than football.”
Boldin, 36, was expected to bring a veteran presence to the offense after signing with the team on Aug. 7. He had just one catch for 5 yards in Thursday’s preseason game against the Philadelphia Eagles.
“We respect Anquan’s decision to retire from the NFL,” Bills general manager Brandon Beane said in a statement. “We appreciate the time he gave us over the past two weeks. He is one of the best receivers to play this game and wish him and his family all the best moving forward.”
His departure raises further questions about an already thin receiving corps. Former No. 4 overall pick Sammy Watkins was traded to the Los Angeles Rams on Aug. 11, though the team acquired Jordan Matthews from the Philadelphia Eagles that same day. Matthews is recovering from a chipped bone in his sternum.
Drafted by the Arizona Cardinals in the second round out of Florida State in 2003, Boldin played seven years for the organization before joining the Baltimore Ravens. A key figure in the team’s Super Bowl run in the 2012 season, he recorded 22 catches for 380 yards and four touchdowns in the playoffs that year. He then played for the San Francisco 49ers for three seasons before his lone campaign with the Detroit Lions in 2016.
Boldin finishes his 14-year NFL career ranked ninth all-time in receptions (1,076) and 14th in receiving yards (13,779).
