Longtime Captain Matthew Slater Announces His Retirement From The NFL

Matthew Slater

New England Patriots captain Matthew Slater has said that he will retire after 16 seasons in the NFL. Slater is a 3-time Super Bowl champion and holds the NFL record with 10 Pro Bowl selections for a special team player.

The 38-year-old Matthew Slater has played in an astounding 264 games for the Patriots. This includes playoffs between 2008 and 2023. In a lengthy social media post, he informed that he has contributed all that he conceivably can to honor and respect the game Slater has loved so much.

Matthew Slater informed that though it was time for his association with Football to evolve, the love he feels for the game will endure. Matthew Slater was originally brought into the Patriots as a receiver during the 5th rough of the 2008 season. He immediately made an impact and functioned as a returner up to 2016. In those 8 years, he amassed an incredible 191 tackles in kick and punt coverage.

Matthew Slater Extended His Tenure By A Year

Matthew Slater wrote that he joined as a rookie in 2008 and had enormous expectations and dreams. He says he is glad that he can retire with the knowledge that the experience has been way more than what he had expected or hoped for.

Matthew Slater turned 38 in the days before his final campaign. He signed a one-year contract extension worth over $2.6 M in February 2023. While the UCLA product came in without any clearly defined position, he went on to make a catch in his role as a wide receiver and also 3 starts as a defensive back.

Slater had contemplated retirement during the off-season last year. However, he changed his decision and continued for one more season. The Patriots honored their star player and the team sporting No.18 hoodies during the pre-game warm-ups. Matthew Slater’s parents were present and shared the moment with him before the final game.