Former Bears nose tackle Eddie Goldman, who signed a one-year contract with the Falcons on July 6, instead is retiring at 28, the Falcons announced Tuesday.
Goldman, a second-round draft pick (39th overall) by the Bears out of Florida State in 2015, played six seasons with the Bears, but was cut prior to free agency in March with the Bears transitioning to a 4-3 defense under new coach Matt Eberflus. He signed with the Falcons, reuniting with Ryan Pace, the Bears’ former general manager who drafted him and now is a senior personnel executive with the Falcons.
The 6-3, 325-pound Goldman was an immediate contributor with the Bears and one of the most valuable anchor pieces in the rise of the Bears defense under coordinator Vic Fangio — including the stellar 2018 unit that led the NFL in scoring defense (17.7 points), yards per play (4.8) and takeaways (36). Though generally overlooked for league-wide honors, Goldman was considered one of the top run-stoppers in the NFL and was a Pro Bowl alternate at 25 in 2019.
But his career stalled after he opted out of the 2020 season because of concerns about the coronavirus. He returned last season, but did not have the same impact in an uneven-at-best season. He still started 10 of 14 games, but he ended up splitting time with seventh-round rookie Khyiris Tonga — who was getting the majority of the nose-tackle snaps by the end of the season.
If his retirement holds, Goldman finished his career with 175 tackles, 13 sacks, 18 tackles-for-loss and 21 quarterback hits in 81 games (73 starts) over six seasons.
