Trente Jones has given up playing football after leading the Michigan Wolverines to a national championship. The offensive lineman was crucial to the program’s success; he was one of the reasons the team went 15-0 in 2023 and won the Joe Moore awards in 2021 and 2022, which are given to the best collegiate offensive line in the sport.
On May 13, 2024, the Green Bay Packers placed the undrafted rookie offensive lineman—who had just finished rookie minicamp—on their reserve/retired list. What happened to him? Will he play in the NFL?
What happened to Trente Jones?
Packers Rookie Trente Jones Surprisingly Retires
Trente explained his decision to leave the sport in a late-night YouTube video that he posted the day before it was made public.
The retirement video begins, “To be honest, I did not know this was going to be my, you know, the turning point of my career, but I did injure my back.” It’s one of those things where it’s like, you either decide to keep pushing and possibly get cut and also hurt your back, or you could try to do this, try to do that, and you try to push through it but end up messing up your back forever, or none of those things happen to you play for 10-15 years.”
Trente does not formally end professional football, though. “There could also be the situation where you leave, get your back better, come back and fix your back, and then come back and then play another 10-15 years. I decided to leave football. It is similar to a medical retirement, but there is also a chance that I could return.”
New York Giants’ Trente Jones is placed on reserve or retired list
Trente Jones, a rookie offensive lineman, was placed on the reserve/retired list by the Packers on Monday. Defensive lineman Spencer Waege, who the Packers claimed off waivers from the 49ers, was also officially added by Green Bay. Jones, an undrafted rookie out of Michigan, was signed by the Packers and took part in their rookie minicamp.
Given his versatility, Jones was expected to have a chance to make the Packers roster. During his tenure in Ann Arbor, he made just 16 starts, some of which were as a sixth offensive lineman. But he started at right tackle in the final three games of Michigan’s national title run in 2023, with another six starts at right tackle in his career.
