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Carolina Panthers' Thomas Davis will call it quits after 2018 season

Carolina Panthers outside linebacker Thomas Davis has played all 13 of his NFL seasons with the franchise that drafted him in the first round back in 2005. It appears it’ll be the only team he ever suits up for. On Friday, Davis told the NFL Network’s Brooke Cersosimo that 2018, his 14th season, would be his last.

Davis, 34, wasn’t named to his first Pro Bowl until 2015, but became a cult favorite in Charlotte due to his perseverance through a string of injuries including three torn ACLs between and the gnarly surgery scar he proudly displayed in Super Bowl 50, the result of surgery to repair the broken left arm he’d suffered in the NFC championship game two weeks earlier.

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Davis led the Panthers in tackles in 2016, but played a reduced role in 2017. Davis told Cerosimo he expects his role to be minimized even more in 2018. Shaq Thompson, a first-round pick in 2015, saw his role expanded and is seen as Carolina’s future at outside linebacker.

Before the 2017 campaign, Davis signed a one-year, $6.75 million extension, with $3 million guaranteed, which will expire in 2018.

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DJ Dunson is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at dunsnchecksin@yahoo.com or find him on Twitter or Facebook.