What does the future hold for Joe Staley? Many are wondering that, right now. No one seems to have an answer. Only the San Francisco 49ers veteran tackle knows what he is thinking, and he isn't sharing any information on his thought process.
After suffering his second Super Bowl defeat, no one would blame Staley if he called it a career. Of course, there's been no real indication that he might retire. There also hasn't been any indication that he plans to return for his 14th NFL season.
Matt Maiocco of NBC Sports Bay Area recently estimated the chances of Staley playing in 2020 at 50/50. Of course, that is just speculation and not based on any specific insider info the respected beat writer might have.
Staley's closest friend on the team, tackle Mike McGlinchey, avoided dropping any hints on the veteran's future during an interview with KNBR on Wednesday.
"I'm not going to speak on Joe's decision-making. That's for him to do," McGlinchey told Greg Papa and John Lund. "I don't know what his thought process is, but it's up to him. I know from a guy-who-watches-him standpoint, I know he can still play. I know he still has that ability. When he was healthy last year, like I said, he's still one of the best in the world at what does.
"Either way, I think he's deserved both. He's deserved a right to come back to this team and play football, but he's also earned the right to hang it up if he wants to. I don't know what his decision-making is there, and I'm certainly not going to speak to that.
"Obviously, as a teammate, and as a member of the 49ers, I know Joe is as vital to our success as anybody."
Staley is one of four 49ers players, past and present, to be named to the NFL's All-Decade Team of the 2010s. He is joined by current teammate and longtime Seattle Seahawk, Richard Sherman, and former teammates Frank Gore and Patrick Willis.
McGlinchey has made it clear that he believes Staley should one day be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. His presence on the All-Decade team, which was jointly announced by the NFL and Pro Football Hall of Fame, might help Staley's case.
"That's a huge deal to be one of four guys to be mentioned in a 10-year span of being the best in the world at what they do," McGlinchey said. "That's a pretty impressive thing. The stats and the stuff [speak] for itself, and I think Joe is under-appreciated during his time as a Niner, believe it or not. He's been to six Pro Bowls, and stuff like that, but he probably should have made more.
"And he's had so much more of an impact, and what he's put on film, I think, than most everybody else out there. I mean, there's a couple of guys that are on the same level as him, but I can't really put anybody that's better. And over his 13 years that he's been in the league, he's been the standard.
"I think when you are somebody that every other offensive lineman looks to, to implement things into their game, and you've been at the top for so, so long, I think it's a given to be in the Hall of Fame."
You can listen to the entire interview with McGlinchey below.