CINCINNATI -- Bengals linebacker Trevor Roach is retiring at 24 and has been placed on the reserve/retired list, the team announced on Friday.
Roach said he didn't love football as much as he used to and didn't want to play anymore, according to the team website. It was a decision he mulled over during the season.
“Once I realized I didn’t love football like I used to, it wasn’t worth going forward,” Roach told the team website. “The money’s good, but that’s not why I got into it. When I started showing up and it felt like work, that’s when I knew it was time.”
Roach signed with the Bengals as an undrafted rookie free agent in 2015 and spent that entire season on the practice squad before being activated to the roster for the 2015 AFC wild-card game.
He spent most of 2016 on the practice squad and was active for four games, playing almost entirely on special teams.
With Roach retiring, the Bengals have seven linebackers under contract for 2017: Vontaze Burfict, Rey Maualuga, P.J. Dawson, Marquis Flowers, Vincent Rey, Nick Vigil and Bryson Albright.
