RB Frank Gore still wants to play but is willing to retire

Five-time Pro Bowl running back Frank Gore turned 38 years old last month and already has a place saved for him in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. However, he told San Francisco radio station KNBR he's not ready to hang his cleats up just yet:

"I know that I can still play the game, I know I can help a team. But it’s also got to be the right situation that I feel that I can be on a team that could go to the playoffs and get a chance to probably go to the Super Bowl. I know that I can still play the game of football, but I also want to be in the right situation on the right team." 

While Gore admitted he'd like to return to the San Francisco 49ers, where he played from 2005 through 2014, he realizes the Niners spending two draft picks on running backs earlier this spring makes such a reunion unlikely. He added:

"I talked to a couple teams, but my agent told me not to put any teams’ names out there. I kind of want to wait to training camp. I want to feel that. I want to wait to see if it’s the right situation for me… If a team calls and I feel like it’s right, I’ma do it. But if I don’t like the situation, I’ll say forget it and I’ll retire… If I don’t feel like it’s the right situation, I’ll retire." 

Gore rushed for 653 yards with a career-low average of 3.5 yards per carry as a member of the New York Jets in 2020. He has exactly 16,000 career rushing yards and is second on the all-time list behind Hall of Famers Walter Payton (16,726) and Emmitt Smith (18,355). 

According to Josh Alper of Pro Football Talk, Gore mentioned playing at least one more season with the 49ers back in February.