Baltimore Ravens Ex LB Josh Bynes Retires

After a 12-year career, ex-Baltimore Ravens linebacker Josh Bynes announced his retirement on Friday.

Former Baltimore Ravens linebacker Josh Bynes announced his retirement from the NFL on Friday - and he did it as a member of the Ravens - the team he spent his first three seasons as a pro, as well as the final two.

The Auburn Tigers product entered the league in 2012 as an undrafted free agent and contributed in a defensive rotation and on special teams. Ravens fans will remember him as the defensive player who made the final tackle in Super Bowl XLVII, bringing him his only championship.

Josh Bynes / USA Today

Bynes also spent three seasons with the Detroit Lions from 2014-2016 before joining the Arizona Cardinals where he was a starter in the final of two seasons before returning to Baltimore and the Ravens organization in 2019. 

He played well enough that season that he was able to sign a bigger deal in Cincinnati in 2020 where he tallied a career-high 99 tackles before returning to Baltimore for a third stint in 2021.

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“The thing I’m most proud of is perseverance,” Bynes said during his retirement announcement. “I’ve been released, cut. I’ve been told I wasn’t good enough, not fast enough to play in the league, wouldn’t be in the league long at all even if I had the opportunity to play. I can show my peers that regardless of what anybody says, you can do anything. You just go out there and prove it every single day. I feel like I proved that for my entire 12 years.”

Over 138 career games that included 82 starts, Bynes, 34, registered 582 tackles, 8.5 sacks and five interceptions and earned roughly $9.4 million. He said he would like to enter the coaching ranks in some capacity to kick off the next chapter of his football life.