Former Gators DE Retires from NFL at 25
Former Florida Gators defensive end Jabari Zuniga is hanging up his cleats after three NFL seasons.
On Sunday, the Saints placed Zuniga on the reserve/retired list, indicating the 25-year-old's intentions to call it a short career.
A three-star recruit out of high school, Zuniga signed with the Gators under then-defensive coordinator Geoff Collins. He spent his first year in Gainesville redshirting before witnessing an exponential rise to the lineup in 2016.
Seeing action in all 13 games with three starts among the mix, Zuniga helped anchor a Florida defense that supported the unit en route to a second-straight SEC Championship appearance against Alabama. He led the team in sacks (five) and quarterback hurries (11) as a redshirt freshman.
The breakout season set the tone for his Gators career, building on each season's success.
In 2018, Zuniga aided the Gators in bouncing back from a 4-7 season to a 10-3 record in Dan Mullen's first year at the helm. He proved dynamic from the first level, accounting for career-highs in tackles (45), tackles for loss (11) and sacks (6.5).
He held high expectations for his farewell campaign in 2019 as a result, but, in that final season with Florida, Zuniga dealt with a lingering ankle injury. It held him out of seven games throughout the year and rid the Gators of the opportunity to see him work alongside current Houston Texans edge Jonathan Greenard on the opposite end at full volume.
He declared for the draft after the year concluded, finishing with 118 tackles, 34.5 tackles for loss, 18.5 sacks, one forced fumble and one blocked kick in 42 games at Florida. Zuniga earned a third-round selection by the Jets in the 2020 selection process.
Spending two years in New York, he appeared in just 11 games over two seasons to combine for eight tackles, one sack and one forced fumble. In 2022, Zuniga signed with the Saints and accounted for two tackles in just one outing.
Now, just prior to a fourth season, he's calling it quits.
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