San Francisco 49ers

Niners' Justin Smith says retirement decision coming soon

Published May. 4, 2015 6:06 p.m. ET

foxsports

San Francisco 49ers defensive end Justin Smith has been mulling retirement since the end of last season.

There finally seems to be a timeline on when Smith will make his official announcement. Smith sat down with Matt Barrows of the Sacramento Bee and told him "You'll know in about three weeks or so."

Smith went on to tell Barrows that the drafting of defensive lineman Arik Armstead will not affect his decision.

General manager Trent Baalke echoed similar sentiments after the first round of the draft on Thursday.

“We gave Justin liberty to make his own decision on his time frame,” Baalke said. “We went into the draft not thinking about what decision Justin’s going to make or not going to make. We just went in to find the best football player, the best system fit that we could.”

Smith played injured a lot last year, which is one of the main reasons he is contemplating retirement. Barrows asked Smith how he was feeling now. The defensive end says he feels good, while adding, "but everybody feels good at this time of the year."

(h/t Sac Bee)