Former Bears nose tackle Eddie Goldman, who signed a one-year contract with Atlanta on July 6, instead is retiring at 28, the Falcons announced Tuesday.
Goldman, a second-round draft pick (39th overall) out of Florida State in 2015, played six seasons with the Bears but was cut before free agency in March with the team switching 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 is now 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 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 leaguewide 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 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 will have finished his career with 175 tackles, 13 sacks, 18 tackles for loss and 21 quarterback hits in 81 games (73 starts).
Lawsuit vs. Bears, Edwards dismissed
A lawsuit against the Bears and defensive end Mario Edwards Jr. stemming from an alleged assault during a Bears road game in 2020 has been voluntarily dismissed by the plaintiff, a Sun-Times source has confirmed.
Edwards was charged with misdemeanor assault after an incident with a woman at the Bears’ hotel on Oct. 17, 2020, the night before the Bears played the Panthers in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Joann Blakney, who had a previous relationship with Edwards, filed a lawsuit in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, in October 2021, accusing Edwards of “assault, battery and intentional infliction of emotional distress” as a result of an argument with Edwards in his hotel room. The suit also accused the Bears of “negligent supervision and defamation.”
The NFL did not punish Edwards after conducting a personal-conduct investigation of the incident. Through his agent, Peter Schaffer, Edwards has denied the charges, though Schaffer has acknowledged there was a verbal argument between Edwards and Blakney in the hotel room.
Edwards, 28, is in his third season with the Bears. He signed a three-year, $11.5 million extension in March 2021 after getting four sacks in 15 games in 2020. Edwards had two sacks in 12 games last season after serving a two-game suspension for violating the NFL’s policy on performance-enhancing substances.