Former San Francisco 49ers left tackle Joe Staley appeared on Friday's NFL transaction wire. The team released the recently-retired offensive lineman with an injury settlement in a procedural move and is expected to re-sign and place him on the reserve/retired list, according to Tom Pelissero of NFL Network.
The #49ers released recently retired LT Joe Staley with an injury settlement, source said. It's just a procedural move. They'll sign him back eventually and put him on reserve/retired.
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) May 1, 2020
The move is likely for salary cap purposes. The 49ers will carry a cap hit of $1 million in dead money, according to OverTheCap.com, as a result of the Staley's retirement.
After playing 13 NFL seasons, Staley officially announced his retirement precisely one week ago, which was during the final day of the draft. The announcement came soon after the 49ers traded with Washington to acquire seven-time Pro Bowl tackle Trent Williams. Although, San Francisco had reportedly known about Staley's decision for days, leading to the trade.
Staley's retirement came after a season plagued with injuries. He dealt with a fractured fibula and broken finger during the regular season, and then a "deteriorating neck condition" made things uncomfortable during the latter part of the season and the playoffs
"It was very mixed emotions throughout this whole entire thing because, obviously, I did not want to quit playing football," Staley said. "I still have a huge love for it. It's going to be a weird transition going into retirement because it wasn't a thing where I was like, 'Alright, this is going to be my last year, and I'm going to be done,' but it was just the right decision for me. I think because of that it was really hard for me.
"I think it'll probably be hard going forward, but it was the right decision for me, and it was the right decision for my family."
