Seahawks S Earl Thomas Announces He’ll Return Next Year, Despite Considering Retirement

Seahawks S Earl Thomas announced Saturday evening that he plans to return for the 2017 season, despite the fact that he recently mentioned that he was contemplating retirement.

I'll def be back next year..

— Earl Thomas (@Earl_Thomas) December 25, 2016

It would have been surprising to see Thomas walk away from the NFL in the middle of his prime.

Thomas was placed on injured reserve after suffering a broken leg a few weeks ago. Shortly after sustaining the injury, Thomas mentioned that he was considering the idea of calling it a career.

Last week, Thomas said during an interview with Rich Eisen of NFL Network that he is “caught in between” continuing his NFL career and retirement.

“I’m kind of enjoying just waking up in the morning without the pressure,” said Thomas. “I don’t know, man. I’m kind of caught in between right now.”

When asked about the pressure of returning to play, Thomas said he didn’t know if he could recommit himself at this point in time.

“… It’s all about recommitting myself, and I don’t know,” said Thomas. “I would never want to step on the football field, you know, half-heartedly… If I have any doubts, I don’t want to play the game.”

Thomas, 27, is a former first-round pick of the Seahawks back in 2010. He’s currently in the third year of his five-year, $44.725 million contract that includes $27.725 million guaranteed and stands to make base salaries of $8 million and $8.5 million over the next two years.

He landed on the Seahawks’ injured reserve after sustaining a broken tibia during Week 13.

In 2016, Thomas had appeared in 11 games and recorded 48 tackles, no sacks, two interceptions, a fumble recovery returned for a touchdown and 10 pass defenses. ProFootballFocus rated him as the No. 15 overall safety out of 91 qualifying players.