Panthers LB Thomas Davis announced Friday that he’s been suspended for the first four games of the 2018 season for a PED violation.
This is by far one of the saddest days of my NFL career. I never thought that this would happen to me. I’ve worked extremely hard to do things the right way on and off the field. Panther Nation please know that I am not a cheater. #KeepPounding pic.twitter.com/zUppMfm6yk
— Thomas Davis (@ThomasDavisSDTM) April 6, 2018
Back in January, Davis told Brooke Cersosimo of NFL Media that the 2018 season will be his final year in the NFL.
“This will definitely be my last year coming up,” Davis said. “One of the reasons is I want to continue my contractual obligations. I signed on for a one-year extension, and I want to complete that. I’ve never been a guy to quit anything and I’m not going to start doing that now.”
Davis also admitted that he will likely have a reduced role next year with the Panthers.
“Being in my 13th year, I’m pretty sure coming back next year that it will be in a reduced role,” Davis said, via Panthers.com. “Shaq [Thompson] has definitely earned the right, and when you look at [David] Mayo, he’s coming along. Obviously we still have Luke (Kuechly) here who is playing at an extremely high level. So we’ll see. We’ll see how it goes.”
Davis, 34, is a former first-round pick of the Panthers back in 2005. He was in the final year of his three-year, $18 million contract that includes $11.5 million guaranteed when he and the Panthers agreed to a one-year, $6.75 million extension through 2018.
In 2017, Davis appeared in 15 games and recorded 76 tackles, 2.5 sacks, and a fumble recovery. Pro Football Focus has him rated as the No. 31 linebacker out of 88 qualifying players.
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