Cliff Avril Says He's Been Contacted by Teams, Discusses Neck Injury

Former Detroit Lions and Seattle Seahawks defensive end Cliff Avril said he's been in contact with a "few" teams as he awaits a medical decision about whether he can continue his football career after suffering a career-threatening neck injury.

On Wednesday, Avril said on SiriusXM NFL Radio's The Opening Drive he's prepared for a transition to radio if he's forced to retire from football, per Kevin Patra of NFL.com.

"But for me it's all about just seeing what the doc says," he said. "I'm not really too concerned about where I might end up or anything like that. I actually just told everybody that I'm going to be working at a radio station, KJR 950 in Seattle. We'll see how it shakes out, though."

Avril suffered the injury during an early October game against the Indianapolis Colts. He was placed on injured reserve, ending his 2017 campaign after four games.

The Seahawks released him last week using the failed-physical designation. Although the defensive lineman said on SiriusXM NFL Radio he's started to feel "a lot better," he's prepared to stop playing if that's what his doctor recommends:

"I'm definitely ready [to move on]. I've had about eight months now to kind of wrap my brain around it. My wife and I, we've been talking about it. We talk about it pretty much every other week, just understanding, 'Hey, if you're not going to play anymore, what's next? Start preparing yourself for that.' And that's kind of where I'm at right now. I'm OK if I'm not able to play ball. If the doctor tells me, 'Hey, you should definitely reconsider not playing,' I'm OK with that at this point of my career."

Avril has tallied 299 combined tackles, 74 sacks, 29 forced fumbles and 29 passes defended across 140 regular-season appearances. He's added 21 tackles and seven sacks in 11 playoff games.

The 32-year-old Purdue product won Super Bowl XLVIII with Seattle in 2014 and earned his lone Pro Bowl selection in 2016.