Terence Newman says that 2018 will be his last season

Yesterday, the Minnesota Vikings announced that veteran cornerback Terence Newman was going to be returning to the team for the 2018 season. From the sounds of it, or at least what he told us at today’s conference call to announce his deal, the 2018 season is really going to be it for him.

Really.

During that conference call earlier today, Newman said the following:

“I think this is probably going to be my last [season],” Newman said on a conference call, according to the team’s website. “I am getting to a point [where] you have to figure out something else that you want to do once you get to my age.

”I think this will be my last year,” Newman said. “No matter what happens, this will be it for me.”

Newman will be the oldest defensive player in the National Football League in 2018, as he will turn 40 about a week before the season opener. Though he started all 16 games last season, one would think that the Vikings might want to reduce his role a bit this coming season. At this point, Newman’s role is as much to help mentor the younger members of the Vikings’ secondary as it is to contribute on the field, and it wouldn’t be surprising if he became a member of Mike Zimmer’s coaching staff in 2019.

You know, provided that he hangs it up after the 2018 season after all.

When Newman signed his contract last season to return to the Vikings for “one more year,” he said that the only reason he was still playing was the pursuit of a championship, something that has eluded him since he began his career in 2003. (Yes, Newman was drafted in the same class as Kevin Williams, who retired before the start of the 2016 season.)

Hopefully, the Vikings can provide that for him in 2018.