Retirement talk will loom large for several Bucs players after 30-27 loss to the Rams. Quarterback Tom Brady, tight end Rob Gronkowski and defensive tackles Ndamukong Suh and Steve McLendon will all weigh their futures. So will outside linebacker Jason Pierre-Paul who played through injury all season. Pierre-Paul, who just turned 33 years old, played the whole year with a torn rotator cuff.

“I don’t know,” Pierre-Paul said when asked if he wants to keep playing. “We’ll see after my surgery.”

Pierre-Paul finished the season with just 2.5 sacks, one of the least productive seasons of his career. The veteran tore his rotator cuff early in the season and played with a broken finger. Pierre-Paul was clearly not himself on tape, struggling each week. The Bucs rested the 12-year defender for the final month of the season, but Pierre-Paul didn’t look much better in the playoffs. Still, he showed a lot of heart being out there at all.

“Just hard work, man,” Pierre-Paul said. “Just putting in the rehab. Doing what everybody tells me to do. And doing the extra stuff. That was basically it. Torn rotator cuff is no joke. I’m an outside linebacker. That’s where everything – my push, my pull – everything as a pass rusher. But I think I did a pretty good job this year at finishing in the playoffs.

“But at the end of the day, we didn’t finish. Didn’t do what we needed to do. So hopefully next year, if I’m here next year.”

If Pierre-Paul hangs it up, he’d finish his career with 91.5 sacks. If he wants to return, it would likely be on a cheap one-year deal in Tampa Bay. The Bucs have next year’s starting outside linebackers in Shaq Barrett and Joe Tryon-Shoyinka, but Pierre-Paul could serve as a valuable reserve. His leadership and energy in the locker room would be nice to have back. But after tons of injuries in his career, Pierre-Paul’s health looms large. That’ll be a big hurdle he needs to clear if he wants to return to the field.