{"id":509365,"date":"2026-03-07T14:29:12","date_gmt":"2026-03-07T14:29:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/509365\/"},"modified":"2026-03-07T14:29:12","modified_gmt":"2026-03-07T14:29:12","slug":"center-ryan-kelly-32-announces-retirement-from-nfl","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/509365\/","title":{"rendered":"Center Ryan Kelly, 32, announces retirement from NFL"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

Kevin SeifertMar 6, 2026, 04:35 PM ET<\/p>\n

Close<\/a>Kevin Seifert is a staff writer who covers the Minnesota Vikings and the NFL at ESPN. Kevin has covered the NFL for over 20 years, joining ESPN in 2008. He was previously a beat reporter for the Minneapolis Star Tribune and Washington Times. He is a graduate of the University of Virginia.<\/p>\n

Multiple Authors<\/p>\n

EAGAN, Minn. — Longtime NFL center Ryan Kelly<\/a> announced his retirement Friday after 10 seasons in the NFL, following an injury-filled season in 2025 with the Minnesota Vikings<\/a>.<\/p>\n

“What an incredible ride it was,” Kelly posted on his X account. “I was blessed to be around some of the greatest people this sport has to offer. I always wanted to leave each place better than how I found it and with that I can hang my hat. Forever grateful for my family and brothers! Cheers.”<\/p>\n

Editor’s Picks<\/a><\/p>\n

Kelly, 32, spent nine seasons with the Indianapolis Colts<\/a> before signing with the Vikings in 2025. He had six documented concussions in his NFL career, including three last year with the Vikings.<\/p>\n

Kelly spent nearly two months on injured reserve after the Vikings diagnosed him with concussions in Weeks 2 and 4. Upon his return in Week 12, he changed helmet models and also began wearing a Guardian Cap during games for the first time. His final concussion occurred in Week 16, ending his season.<\/p>\n

The Vikings had hoped Kelly could play multiple seasons for them after they waived former starter Garrett Bradbury<\/a>. Michael Jurgens<\/a>, a seventh-round pick in 2024, started three games in Kelly’s place last season, and the Vikings also used backup tackle\/guard Blake Brandel<\/a> at the position. Jurgens and Brandel are each candidates for the 2026 job, but the Vikings could also seek additional candidates via free agency or the draft.<\/p>\n

Kelly, the No. 18 pick of the 2016 draft, started 129 games over 10 seasons. He was elected to four Pro Bowls and was a second-team All-Pro selection in 2020.<\/p>\n

His retirement will open $8.4 million in cap space for the Vikings, who entered the offseason roughly $43 million over the NFL’s $301.2 million salary cap for 2026.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Kevin SeifertMar 6, 2026, 04:35 PM ET CloseKevin Seifert is a staff writer who covers the Minnesota Vikings…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":509366,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[63],"tags":[349,99],"class_list":["post-509365","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nfl","tag-nfl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/509365","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=509365"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/509365\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/509366"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=509365"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=509365"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=509365"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}