FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- Veteran wide receiver Eric Decker, who had signed a one-year contract with the New England Patriots on Aug. 3, announced his retirement on Instagram Sunday afternoon.
Decker appeared to be on the roster bubble despite the Patriots' needs at receiver; he didn't play in the first half of Friday's preseason loss to the Carolina Panthers -- the only time quarterback Tom Brady was in the game.
On Saturday, coach Bill Belichick had been asked about Decker's acclimation to the Patriots' system and said, "I think Eric's learned everything well. Again, he had a background in this system in Denver with Josh [McDaniels] and he's played multiple positions in the offense since he's been here. We used a couple new formations [Friday], so I don't think learning is really a problem for him, and he has a lot of experience [with] some of the more sophisticated routes, option routes and things like that are all things that he's done and it's just really a question of getting the timing and exactly how you want to do it and seeing enough looks on it so that you and the quarterback know exactly what it is."
The Patriots had signed Decker after releasing Jordan Matthews, as the receiver spot has had some volatility in training camp. In addition to Matthews, the club also has released receivers Malcolm Mitchell and Kenny Britt since training camp started.
Julian Edelman tops the team's depth chart, followed by Chris Hogan, Phillip Dorsett and Cordarrelle Patterson. Edelman will miss the first four games of the season as he serves a four-game suspension for violating the NFL's policy on performance-enhancing substances.
After trading Brandin Cooks (Rams) in the offseason, and with Danny Amendola (Dolphins) departing in free agency, the club was prepared for significant changes at the position.
Decker had struggled at times in training camp with dropped passes and went through a tennis-ball drill before Friday's game on the field to work on his hands.
He played for the Denver Broncos, New York Jets and Tennessee Titans during his eight-season career, catching 439 receptions for 5,816 yards with 53 touchdowns.