D'Brickashaw Ferguson

The Jets drafted D'Brickashaw Ferguson in 2006. (John Munson | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)

Jets longtime left tackle D'Brickashaw Ferguson is retiring, a league source confirmed Friday morning.

Earlier Friday, a source close to Ferguson said he was considering retirement, but had not yet made a final decision.

Ferguson had kept the Jets in the loop on his thought process as he pondered retirement, said the source close to him.

So the Jets were not surprised by Friday's news of Ferguson's retirement, which was first reported by ESPN's Rich Cimini. The organization has had time to formulate a plan, as it attempts to find a new starting left tackle.

Still, Ferguson's decision to walk away now is a stunning move.

He started every game of his career -- 167 in all -- since the Jets drafted him fourth overall in 2006. (He spoke here about his remarkable stretch of durability, and how he made it happen.)

Ferguson made the Pro Bowl from 2009-11, but his performance showed signs of declining last season. Still, he never experienced any publicly known, significant injuries at any point during his career. Ferguson turned 32 in December.

His retirement increases the possibility that the Jets will draft a left tackle at No. 20 later this month. But his retirement also create $9 million in salary cap space.

The Jets are pinched for cap space, and they need more in order to re-sign quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick, who remains a free agent. As of this week, the Jets had just $564,647 in salary cap space, according to NFLPA records.

The Jets recently spoke to Ferguson about the possibility of him taking a pay cut, in order to create cap space.

Last season, Ferguson did speak about the potential long-term, harmful effects of playing professional football. After he saw the film "Concussion," he said he felt "betrayed" by the NFL's past efforts to deny concussion science.

Earlier this offseason, the Jets brought left tackle Kelvin Beachum in for a free agent visit, but he wound up signing with the Jaguars.

Staff writer Dom Cosentino contributed reporting.

Darryl Slater may be reached at dslater@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @DarrylSlater. Find NJ.com Jets on Facebook.