Nick Mangold is opening up about his surprising cut from the New York Jets, the only team he has been with in his 11-year-career.
The seven-time Pro Bowl center was released at the end of February in a move that cleared roughly $9.1million in salary cap space for 2017.
Still, Mangold was hoping to be able to work something out with the team.
"I was hoping there was going to be a negotiation of some sort to get something worked out," Mangold, 33, told The New York Post. "But when you're told, 'Hey, we're cutting you, and good luck,' that really caught me off guard."
Mangold was at Disney World with his wife and two small children when he got the news, which he said put a damper on the trip.
What was even harder was telling his family at the happiest place on Earth that he would not be playing with the Jets anymore.
According to Mangold, his six-year-old son Matthew took the news pretty well, but his wife, Jennifer, did not.
"She was hurt and she was upset … sad as well," Mangold said.
Mangold said he realised it is the nature of the business that teams want the most bang for their buck.
That means veterans are being cut, such as Darrelle Revis and Brandon Marshall.
"I've seen the other moves that have been pulled off recently, and it just seems to be the route that they're taking," Mangold said. "To get younger and cheaper."
For now, Mangold is willing to take his chances in free agency.
"This whole free agent thing is a whole new territory, that I've never really had any experience like this, so I don't know what to expect," he said.
"I don't know how it all works. I've got a couple of calls to make to try to ask a couple of guys what they went through and how they approached it. Just kind of taking it slow, and seeing what's out there."
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