The Buffalo Bills made things official Thursday by releasing center Eric Wood after he was forced to retired due to an injury.
Buffalo Bills fans saw an odd sight back in January when Eric Wood had an abrupt press conference in what was supposed to be a retirement announcement and celebration.
Alas, the move became official Thursday when it was announced that the Bills reached an injury settlement with Wood and released him. He spent his entire nine-year career with the Bills.
The injury holding Wood out of play was never going to magically get better, so this announcement isn’t any surprise. It is just interesting to see it take so long when we all knew the final outcome. Naturally, it all came down to money.
Wood joined the Bills back in 2009 as one of the better first-round picks in recent history. He started 120 games in nine years, including the entire season in 2017. He retires as a Bills legend, even after the odd way things went down with his retirement.
His official release brings the new configuration of the offensive line into focus. The team will now be without Wood, Richie Incognito and Cordy Glenn in 2018. Ryan Groy and Dion Dawkins are two players who will likely be stepping up this season, but just like a few other positions on the team, there may be some competitions to be had in training camp. In fact, that is going to be the case.
It is always a bit sad when a player has to retire under these conditions. Forced out before his time is truly over and then having to deal with doing it in a way that helps him financially and not getting taken advantage of by the team.
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Wood seemed to navigate this path well and should be comfortable in his retirement. Hopefully his neck injury doesn’t hamper him as he enjoys his life off the field.