Getty Rhett Ellison Celebrates w/ Fellow Giants TE Evan Engram
New York Giants tight end Rhett Ellison had been reportedly contemplating retirement for weeks. On Monday, he came to his official conclusion, calling it a career after eight seasons in the NFL. In a column featured on the team’s website, Ellison detailed all that went into his grueling decision to hang up his cleats once and for all.
“The past few weeks, it’s kind of been an emotional rollercoaster,” Ellison said. “But the overwhelming feeling I have is gratitude. Just thinking back to all the people in my life, even before I put pads on, that were able to nurture and grow the gifts God put into me and make this career possible. I think that was the biggest thing that was the fun part about the retirement process, which is reflecting on those people, thanking those people, reaching out and just the lessons they taught me, the tools they gave me for my life after football.”
Injuries a Driving Force to Ellison’s Retirement Decision
Ellison began his NFL career with the Minnesota Vikings, spending five years with the team before joining the Giants back in 2017. He was never known as a real lethal receiving threat throughout his career. However, his gritty play-style and blocking prowess were glaring positives in a modern-era of football which the majority of tight ends have become nothing more than glorified slot receivers.
Yet, his willingness to play in the trenches led to an injury-riddled three seasons with Big Blue, most notably missing the final six games of 2019 with a concussion, ultimately culminating in a major reason why he’s decided to step away from the game.
“In the back of my head, there’s always that, ‘I get it, this could be my last game,’ just because of the nature of the sport,” he said. “When I ruptured my patella tendon (in 2016), that was the first time I realized, ‘Oh wait, this can end at any moment.’ Since that injury, it’s kind of stuck with me, like, ‘Don’t take these games for granted. Don’t take these opportunities for granted.’ I was never surprised. I know injuries are a part of the game. There’s no way I could have told you that was going to be my last game, but it ended up being my last game. But my mentality, just from having multiple injuries throughout my career, was you realize how short your time is on the field and you never really know when it’s going to end.”
Ellison finished with 67 receptions for 674 and three touchdowns during his three-year stint in New York. His retirement will save the Giants approximately $5M while enduring just $2.18M in dead money.
Although, the move leaves the Giants extremely thin at a position that was once believed to be a strong point.
Giants TE Position Littered With Questions
Starting tight end Evan Engram has reportedly fallen somewhat out of favor with the brass in New York. As detailed by ESPN’s Matthew Berry, “the Giants don’t believe Evan Engram can ever stay healthy.” The concerns about the tight end’s availability have sources close to Berry believing that Big Blue will attempt to shop the tight end during the upcoming season.
If Engram was to be shipped out of town, that would leave soon-to-be second-year tight end Kaden Smith as the incumbent at the position. Smith shined in spot duty a season ago, showing a great rapport with quarterback Daniel Jones, scoring a touchdown or registering 70+ receiving yards in four of his final six games of 2019.
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