NFL Rumors: Jeremy Mincey Retirement Due To Rejection From Dallas Cowboys

NFL veterans can be rather peculiar when it comes to where they want to play football. According to Fox Sports, Jeremy Mincey decided to retire from the league because he was not offered a contract from the Dallas Cowboys. The 32-year-old defensive end has publicly stated that they are his only choice.

Earlier in the year, Jeremy Mincey decided to have surgery on his injured elbow. The main reason for doing that was because he wanted to continue his career in the NFL. Retirement was not something that Mincey had planned when he went under the knife back in February.

Jeremy Mincey might have seen the writing on the wall when the Dallas Cowboys went out in free agency and signed Cedric Thornton from the Philadelphia Eagles, as reported by NBC Sports. With the way that the Cowboys were praising Thornton after the signing, the belief is that he is slotted to be a starter.

Veteran DE Jeremy Mincey calls it a career: https://t.co/knumyzp3Oz pic.twitter.com/VGcYMdywK3

— NFL (@NFL) August 23, 2016

The defensive line became even more crowded when the Dallas Cowboys signed Benson Mayowa from the Oakland Raiders. Mayowa is not an established player in the NFL, but he is just 25 years of age. Mayowa has not taken as much of a beating as Jeremy Mincey has.

To make matters worse for Jeremy Mincey, the Dallas Cowboys also spent mid-level selections in the NFL Draft to beef up the defensive line. Charles Tapper from Oklahoma and Maliek Collins from Nebraska will get chances to prove that they belong in the Cowboys defensive rotation.

Jeremy Mincey might have thought that he had a chance because the Dallas Cowboys will be short two defensive linemen for the first month of the regular season. Randy Gregory and Demarcus Lawrence are both required to serve a four-game suspension by the NFL. Cowboys defensive coordinator Rod Marinelli is going to need to be creative.

Injuries are a part of the NFL every year, so there is still a possibility that the Dallas Cowboys could give Jeremy Mincey a phone call in the upcoming months. If Mincey were to keep himself in excellent shape while staying at home, then he has a very good chance of getting what he wants.

According to Sporting News, Jeremy Mincey had two standing offers from unnamed NFL teams to join their roster. The fact that Mincey has opted to reject those deals shows just how badly that he wanted to continue playing for the Dallas Cowboys.

Jeremy Mincey made his retirement announcement through Twitter and Instagram. The Georgia native showed a lot of humility by showing appreciation to those that helped enabled him to live out his dream of being able to play in the NFL, despite initially being just a sixth round draft pick.

The New England Patriots were thanked because they gave Jeremy Mincey a foot in the door. The 6-foot-4, 280-pound defensive tackle also made sure to thank the San Francisco 49ers for giving him a chance, even though he was not good enough at the time to get on the field.

Jeremy Mincey thanked the Jacksonville Jaguars for developing him into an NFL caliber player. Mincey was also appreciative towards the Denver Broncos because he finally got to play in the Super Bowl. Finally, Mincey thanked the Dallas Cowboys for letting him show off his skills, both on the field and off of it.

While there is very much a chance that we will see Jeremy Mincey on an NFL field again, there are no guarantees. This really could be the end of the road for the former Florida Gators star. If that is the case, then he can hold his head up high for playing nine seasons on the big stage.

[Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images]