As the Chicago Bears were rocketing toward an NFC North title and playoff run, quarterback Caleb Williams made a comment on social media about his Pro Bowl center Drew Dalman that has proven prophetic.
“He’s the brains behind all of it.”
Dalman informed the Bears on Tuesday that he will retire. Now. At age 27. After only five NFL seasons. After playing every snap in 2025, the first year of a three-year, $42 million contract.
Initial reaction around the league was that the decision was bonkers. Upon further review, however, it might be the most rational, reasoned move made this offseason.
Not long ago, most NFL players — linemen, certainly — couldn’t up and quit at the peak of their earning potential because their earnings weren’t enough to ensure a lifetime of financial stability.
Instead, they did what football players do — button their chin strap and play as long as their name remained on a roster. The risk of serious injury — including concussions — was simply the price of staying in the business.
Chronic traumatic encephalopathy? Early-onset dementia? Afterthoughts.
Today, it doesn’t take a mechanical engineering major to recognize that the equation has changed. Dalman, who happened to study mechanical engineering at Stanford, has yet to articulate why he is retiring.
But it is safe to presume that considerations included the roughly $24 million he banked in four years with the Atlanta Falcons and one with the Bears as well as the well-chronicled list of former players whose brains or other body parts no longer function properly because of the violent nature of the sport.
One of those players was Chris Dalman, an offensive lineman for the San Francisco 49ers from 1993-1999. He retired at 29 after suffering a neck injury during training camp in 2000 that left him temporarily paralyzed.
Chris is Drew’s father. He also graduated from Stanford and now is president of the private school in Salinas, Calif., that he and his son attended. This is what Chris told reporters when he retired in 2000:
“When I first got hurt and I couldn’t move, laying on the field for about 30 seconds, I knew it was probably over,” he said. “Still, it’s strange to think that this part of your life is over.”
Abruptly ending a career prematurely can’t be easy. It likely was as difficult for Drew Dalman as it was for his father. Yet the mountain of information regarding the link between repeated helmet-to-helmet hitting and CTE is irrefutable.
A 2023 Boston University study found that 345 of 376 (91.7%) post-mortem brains of former NFL players contained CTE, a progressive neurodegenerative disease caused by repeated head trauma. This condition is linked to dementia, cognitive decline and increased suicide risk among former players.
It remains to be seen whether more players will retire while at the top of their game. Already, several have done so, most prominently linebacker Luke Kuechly at 28 and quarterback Andrew Luck at 29.
Losing Dalman shocked the Bears, but they should be OK. The $10 million in salary cap space freed by his retirement can be spent on one of the several available free-agent centers.
That means Williams — the former USC Heisman Trophy winner and blossoming NFL quarterback — must adjust to a new center a year after he was thrilled that the Bears signed Dalman.
Williams’ words in December about Dalman’s exceptional brain, however, were followed by something less prophetic. While showering the Bears center with praise, Williams said, “And he’s the right guy for the job for my future and our future here.”
Dalman apparently prioritized his own future health instead.
