Former Cardinals pass rusher Markus Golden announces NFL retirement

Markus Golden, who spent two different stints with the Arizona Cardinals over a nine-year career, announced Wednesday that he’s retiring from the NFL.

“Football has always been more than just a sport to me,” he wrote on Instagram. “I’ve officially retired from the NFL after playing the game I’ve loved all my life. I feel truly blessed to have been able to live out the dreams and goals I set for myself as a kid.

“A Big thank you to God, my family, friends, St. Louis, Matthew Dickey Boys & Girls Club, Affton (Missouri), Hutchinson Community College, Mizzou, The Arizona Cardinals, New York Giants, and Pittsburgh Steelers for giving me the opportunity to pursue my dreams. I’m also incredibly grateful to all the teammates and coaches I had the privilege to work with along the way. To all the incredible fans, thank You! Your passion and energy fueled me, and I’m grateful for each and every one of you. #KeepHuntin”

For his career, Golden played in 127 games and recorded 51 sacks with 11 forced fumbles and 344 total tackles.

Golden was Arizona’s second-round pick in 2015 and burst onto the scene during his second season, where under head coach Bruce Arians he recorded a career-high 12.5 sacks playing opposite outside linebacker Chandler Jones.

Golden suffered a torn ACL four games into the 2017 season and was sluggish to contribute the next year despite playing 11 games.

Nicknamed “Junk,” Golden signed with the New York Giants for the 2019 season and refound his form to hit 10 sacks, but the production fell off through half of the next season (1.5 sacks with New York) before he was traded back to the Cardinals for a sixth-round pick.

Golden said that trade saved him from an earlier retirement.

Oddly enough, he was viewed by many teammates as a player who saved them.

“I always say Markus is one of the people that saved my career,” then-Cardinals defensive lineman Zach Allen said in one episode of Cardinals Flight Plan, a team-produced mini-doc series. “In my second year, he got traded and I had just been put on the IR for an ankle injury for the second time in two years with an ankle injury.

“You’re kind of doubting yourself but after every game, he would come up to me and say, ‘You’re the guy, you’re a beast, we love you.’ You’re not seeing it in yourself, but hearing it from someone that is accomplished, I really think my career took off when he got traded here.”

Golden was extended two years before the 2021 season and rewarded the payout with 11 sacks and four forced fumbles for the Kliff Kingsbury-led Arizona team that season. Golden regressed again in 2022 with Arizona and was released before playing 15 games for the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2023.

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