The Jacksonville Jaguars took a big step forward in 2025 during their first season under head coach Liam Coen‘s lead, and now, they will be looking to build off of what they accomplished last year. The Jags have a strong core group in place, so this offseason, the team has made an effort to find a way to properly support those players.
Jacksonville made some big signings in free agency before bringing 10 new players to town via the 2026 NFL Draft. The Jaguars also attacked the undrafted free agent market, with one of their more notable additions being former South Dakota State Jackrabbits wide receiver Alex Bullock. And yet, just weeks after signing with Jacksonville, Bullock has made a stunning retirement decision.
Alex Bullock Retires from the NFL
This is now the third undrafted NFL rookie to retire in the last week.
Bullock initially spent the first three seasons of his collegiate career with the Nebraska Cornhuskers, but he played sparingly for them during his time in town. Pretty much all of Bullock’s production with the team came during the 2023 season, which saw him catch 15 passes for 221 yards and a touchdown.
For the 2025 campaign, Bullock transferred to South Dakota State in hopes of earning more playing time, and he responded by putting together easily the best campaign of his collegiate career. Bullock set career highs across the board by hauling in 71 receptions for 936 yards and five touchdowns, which put him firmly on the radar of teams across the NFL.
While he didn’t get selected in the draft, Bullock had enough upside to quickly get snatched up by the Jaguars, who could certainly use some more consistency from their pass-catchers at the wide receiver position. Even though Bullock seemingly had a shot to earn a spot on the team’s practice squad at the very least, he opted to change course just weeks after signing with Jacksonville by retiring from the NFL entirely.
“Jaguars WR Alex Bullock, who they signed as an undrafted free agent out of South Dakota State, is retiring from the NFL, the team announced. This is now the third undrafted NFL rookie to retire in the last week,” Ari Meirov of The 33rd Team shared in a post on X.
Jaguars May Need to Reinforce Wide Receiver Depth After Alex Bullock Retires
GettyJaguars’ undrafted rookie wide receiver Alex Bullock has decided to retire from the NFL.
Bullock’s odds of immediately carving out a role on offense with the Jaguars weren’t particularly high, but he flashed enough potential during his time in college that he was well worth taking a flier on. Instead, he has decided to call it a career before he ever really got started in the pros, dealing Jacksonville’s wide receiver depth a blow before training camp.
The good news for the Jags is that they still have a pretty deep wide receiver depth chart, but they may want to add another player at this spot ahead of training camp. Jacksonville wants to create as much competition as possible ahead of the new season, so while losing Bullock hurts, his departure will provide the front office with another opportunity to find a diamond in the rough.
Jaguars Rookie Announces Abrupt Retirement Decision