The lions repeatedly called and wrote Barry Sanders before the draft that year, asking him if he was going to retire. Sanders ignored them, the Lions went into the draft thinking Sanders would play, and then he retired.

I think that was way worse than this situation.

I agree that it would have been better for Ricky to retire right after last season, so that the Dolphins could have patched the whole through the draft or free agents. Still, it is not like he is retiring the day before the super bowl.

Anyways, both Barry Sanders and Ricky Williams have some screws loose.