Former Miami Dolphins First-Round Pick Retires After Nine NFL Seasons

Former Miami Dolphins first-round pick DeVante Parker abruptly has decided to retire, less than two months after signing as a free agent with the Philadelphia Eagles.

The news was reported Monday night by ESPN NFL insider Adam Schefter, who said Parker told him he wanted to spend time with his four children.

The 31-year-old Parker, who the Dolphins made the 14th overall pick in the 2015 NFL draft, Parker finished his NFL career with retire with 369 career catches for 5,266 yards and 27 touchdowns.

Parker played the past two seasons with the New England Patriots after the Dolphins traded him in the 2022 offseason along with a fifth-round draft pick for a third-round selection.

“I appreciate the Dolphins for drafting me and giving me the opportunity,” Parker told Schefter. “I always will have love for the Dolphins and their organization. And I want to thank all the teams, the Patriots and the Eagles, too. But the Dolphins were the first team, and I really want to thank them.”

Parker’s time with the Dolphins — fairly or unfairly — will be remembered as much for a series of minor injuries that slowed him as for his production.

He missed 20 games during his seven seasons in Miami, managing to play every game only once.

Parker never was selected to the Pro Bowl during his career, although he certainly had a case in 2019, the one season he didn’t miss any games.

In that 2019 season, Parker led all AFC wide receivers in receiving yards with 1,202 and receiving touchdowns with nine. He was particularly impressive in the second half of 2019 when he had 802 receiving yards with four 100-yard performances.

The following season, Parker was on the receiving end of Tua Tagovailoa’s first NFL touchdown pass, a 5-yard catch in a 28-17 victory against the Los Angeles Rams.

Along with ranking sixth in franchise history in career receiving yards with 4,727 and eighth in receptions with 338, Parker stands seventh among wide receivers with 93 games played (not counting Jim Jensen, who often was listed as a WR but also played fullback, tight end and even quarterback).

Furthermore, the only wide receiver to play more games for the Dolphins in the 2000s than Parker was 2001 second-round pick Chris Chambers with 100.

When it comes to any Dolphins draft pick since 2000, Parker is tied with Mike Pouncey and Walt Aikens for seventh-most games played for Miami — Reshad Jones and Brandon Fields are tied for the lead with 128.