So uh are we gonna have more creepy Niner dudes coming this way after the disaster off-season out in San Fran?

They also lost A. Smith's back up Dan Skuta on top of Willis' retirement.

Wow. He was a damn good rookie, too

Fourth guy under 30 years old to retire in the last week. That's something. I don't expect this to become common where rookies are quitting, but I do wonder if some guys will start retiring earlier.

Good call

This seems to be a very 49er thing to do. I remember Glen Coffee doing it a few years ago. Said God didn't want him to play football. So he quit and became a paratrooper.

Seems like something fishy going on in San fran. Weird

Deleted before be called heartless...

If it were any place but San Francisco it might be a worrying trend... Because the only other high profile retirement beside the ones mentioned here was the WVU QB who quit because he had a long record of concussions.

Good for him. As a Badger fan, he was a pleasure to watch. Borland was everywhere at Wisconsin. Didn't watch the niners much but I know he had a good rookie season. Was looking forward to seeing him full time there.

@ESPNNFL: Prominent players 30 or younger who have retired this offseason:

• Patrick Willis
• MJD
• Jake Locker
• Jason Worilds
• Chris Borland

It's going to happen more and more, which just another reason why a team in London and elsewhere is just plain dumb, as is an 18 game season.

There aren't even enough QB's to around.

Considering he'd have to churn out 2 more years before getting any millions with an extension sooner is better than later to retire for him.

Strange as hell imo. He was in the mix for defensive rookie of the year. Id be pissed if I were the 49ers. I feel like that's something you should make known before you enter the draft. Oh by the way I might retire next year. I wonder if Justin Smith decides to hang it up.

Why? It's common knowledge a team can and will cut you at any time, without prior notice. Take the $ and quit when you want. I do think that within the next 10 years the number of players that retire after about 3-5 years will grow in a major way. Smarter folks will realize they can make a few million and get a great jump start on life but still get out with all their capacities.