The Jacksonville Jaguars had several needs ahead of free agency and had to address an extra one when center Mitch Morse stepped out of football. Things worked out in the end, as they signed Robert Hainsey to step in his place. Similarly, Morse doesn't appear to have second thoughts and recently talked about the circumstances that led to his retirement. Moreover, he talked about one kind gesture the Jags had that wasn't previously known.
Morse made an appearance on the Centered on Buffalo and told host Eric Wood that he knew it was time to retire when nothing changed his decision, pointing out that he first thought about it in the middle of 2024.
"I came to this decision midway through last year. Also, know that I'm prone to making these kind of huge moves in my mind and then kind of acting on them," Morse told Wood. "So I thought maybe just take a second, and especially if you come to this conclusion in your mind, and then you're dead set on in season, they can start affecting your play and field. So I thought, let's just compartmentalize that, put that to the side. Know that it's something that you want to do, and then see what happens."
Morse continued, "So kept playing, didn't change. Won a few games, didn't change. A new regime came in, didn't change. And then, and then they came to me and kind of asked if I was up for that culture shift Year 11. And listen, dude, I had a blast in Jacksonville. Of course, professionally wasn't what we wanted to be, but there was a lot of good the people, the camaraderie, the support staff, the coaching, just didn't work out, dude, and it doesn't wasn't because we didn't work hard, or try hard, or care about each other."
"We can all point fingers, but ultimately, we all had a part to play and how it didn't work out. And so, long story, long, we went to Disney, deliberated then, and then we kind of came back to Jacksonville. We had this dialog and decided this was it was time, and I'll tell you what, I had my first football nightmare of actually having to go back and play. So that's how I knew I made the right decision, and it's been such a blessing so far."
With Luke Fortner struggling at center in 2023, Morse signed a two-year deal worth $11 million with the Jags last offseason and won the starting job. He suited up for all 17 games, giving up a manageable three sacks and 14 total pressures.
Below is Morse's full exchange with Wood. His remarks about his decision to retire come at the 1:23 mark.
The Jaguars allowed Mitch Morse to keep his signing bonus (even though they didn't have to)
Mitch Morse could've stayed with the Jacksonville Jaguars if he had wanted to, but he chose to hang up his cleats. That came with a caveat, though. Because the former Mizzou Tiger had one year left on the deal he signed, he was going to need to return some of his signing bonus. However, Jacskonville allowed him to keep it.
"The thing you guys don't understand is Jacksonville had the opportunity to collect back money. I signed a two-year contract. I only met one year of that obligation, right?" Morse later in his conversation with Eric Wood. "So the fact that they were so gracious and understanding this process. And who knows? They could have let me go, I don't know, but they seem to want to do right by me."
"They made that very clear, from the ownership to the new manager, to the new team president, Tony Boselli. I had guaranteed money the next year. I didn't get that. That's totally fine by me. Didn't want it. They didn't claw back the money that they gave me. Unbelievable. You know, it was just really good business done by then, when they didn't have to."
As Morse said, the Jaguars didn't need to do well by him, and nobody would've probably found out about it if he hadn't discussed it with Eric Woods.
On the other hand, the Jags deserve praise for looking for a proven commodity following Morse's retirement. When Brandon Linder retired in 2022, they thought Luke Fortner was going to be a fine replacement. He wasn't, which is why they signed Morse to begin with.
Hopefully, the Jaguars will soon find the stability they've been missing at center. But for the time being, it's fair to say that they were pleased with Morse's performance.