What's really going on? [Update]

When Bill Parcells took a chance on a defensive tackle in the 7th round of the 1997 NFL draft, it's been nothing but loyalty ever since. Throughout his career Jason Ferguson exemplified the definition of a "Parcells guy", and after 13 seasons in the NFL (2 with the Dolphins)  Ferguson suddenly decides to retire... but why?

In week 11 of the 2009 season Ferguson went down with a quadricep injury and it was later noted that he would miss the rest of the season. There was a lot of speculation about his future due to the fact that Ferguson was going to be an unrestricted free agent that offseason.

Omar Kelly made the picture a lot clearer when he interviewed Ferguson:

Ferguson's openly told me he'll either play for the Dolphins in 2010 or retire because he's presently (could change his mind) unwilling to start over with a new regime.

So in other words if the Dolphins extended his contract then he's playing in 2010, but if they didn't he had no plans on starting over with a new team thus forcing him to retire.

 Mike Berardino also reveals that Ferguson has every intention to play this season:

Veteran nose tackle Jason Ferguson said he wants to play a 14th season at age 35 after undergoing surgery on his right quadriceps five weeks ago. Dr. James Andrews performed the surgery in Birmingham and told Ferg he wasn't doing it just so he could lead a normal life after football. The surgery was done so Ferg could get back on the field as soon as possible. A free agent, he isn't sure where that will be.

  So Ferguson will be playing in 2010 as long as the Dolphins want to sign him to a deal right?

Well if his future wasn't already shaky enough the NFL suspends Ferguson for the first 8 games of the 2010 season. Low and behold the Dolphins end up re-signing Ferguson despite the suspension.

 Ferguson also recently made these statements (June 7, 2010 to be exact):

"That fire’s still burning. I didn’t want to go out with an injury. I didn’t want to be remembered like that," said Ferguson, who re-signed with the Dolphins this spring, inking a one-year deal. "When I leave this game I want to walk off the field. Not be carted off it."

and he also made these statements:

"By training camp I want to be out there with my guys, and giving them what they can expect when November comes."

 

"Every year you work your way up, and you're thinking game day is right around the corner," he said Friday at the Dolphins' mini-camp. "For me it's going to be around two corners."

Now maybe this is just me, but this doesn't sound like a guy that's preparing for retirement.

The Dolphins didn't re-sign him for the purpose of retiring a Dolphin because he isn't a tenured Dolphin (like Zach Thomas or Jason Taylor for example), and Ferguson didn't have surgery on his quadricep so that he could retire and live a normal life after football. So why is he really retiring? and could he possibly return if things go bad at nose tackle?

*Update*

So apparently Drew Rosenhaus's inside sources with the Dolphins tell him that Ferguson wasn't healing, so there you go