Carson Palmer announces his retirement from the NFL with heartwarming letter

Palmer will call it a career after 15 seasons in the league.

Carson Palmer has announced his retirement from the NFL. Palmer, who turned 38 in December, shared his decision via the team.

“Over the years, I’ve had teammates who decided to hang it up and I would ask them how they knew when it was time to walk away,” Palmer said in his open letter. “The answer was always the same. You just know.

“For me that time is now. Why? Quite simply, I just know.”

The announcement comes just one day after former head coach Bruce Arians also announced he would step away from the NFL.

Palmer spent a chunk of the 2017 season on injured reserve after breaking his arm against the Rams in Week 7.

He was drafted by the Bengals with the first overall pick in the 2003 draft. Palmer spent the first eight seasons of his career in Cincinnati. The Bengals finished that year 4-12 and Palmer requested, and was denied, a trade by the team. Palmer retired for the first time following the 2010 season.

The Bengals eventually agreed to trade his rights to the Raiders. After the better part of two seasons in Oakland with middling success, the Raiders traded Palmer to the Cardinals, where he experienced a renaissance.

Palmer had his best season with the Cardinals in 2015. He earned a Pro Bowl nod and was named a second-team All-Pro after finishing fourth in the NFL with 4,631 yards, 35 touchdowns, and just 11 interceptions. The Cardinals went 13-3 and won the NFC West. They made it all the way to the NFC Championship game, where the Panthers showed them the door with Carolina’s 49-15 win.

The Cardinals had aspirations of building on that season’s success in 2016. They finished 7-8-1 and failed to make the postseason. This season, with Palmer’s injury and key players like David Johnson and D.J. Humphries landing on injured reserve, there wasn’t much hope for Arizona. They finished 8-8.

Palmer considered retirement before last season. Facing the reality of having to start over in a new system with a new head coach may have helped pave the way for this decision.