Carolina Panthers: Thomas Davis may not be done with football after 2018

The 14th season was supposed to be Carolina Panthers’ Thomas Davis last. However, the linebacker may have changed his mind.

Shortly after the Carolina Panthers suffered their playoff loss to the New Orleans Saints, linebacker Thomas Davis said he was ‘definitely’ retiring during an interview with NFL.com, according to CBS Sports.

Davis had a number of reasons including wanting to spend more time with his kids as well as honoring the one-year contract extension he signed with the team. That contract runs through the 2018 season.

Fast forward to this week, and the Panthers’ longest tenured player may not be as confident in his decision to walk away after this season.

According to the team’s site, Davis said after practice on Monday:

"“If the team is willing to have me back, I’ll be back,” Davis said."

It certainly sounds that Davis would like to come back for another season after this year, but it will only be in a Panthers’ uniform. The outside linebacker has spent his previous 13 seasons with the Panthers after the team selected him with the 14th overall pick in the 2005 NFL Draft.

The veteran has had to deal with a number of injuries, including three ACL tears, but is playing some of his best football at this point in his career. He has been named to the last three Pro Bowls and earned a First-team All-Pro selection in 2015. Prior to last season, Davis had five consecutive years with over 100 total tackles. He is the franchise leader in that category.

One of the circumstances that could have changed Davis’ decision happened after his retirement announcement. In April, the NFL announced Davis would be suspended for the first four games of the season due to violating the league’s performance enhancing drug policy.

While Davis’ declaration on Monday doesn’t guarantee he will be playing past this year fans have to be happy to hear that he is open to the idea.