John Moffitt has retired from the NFL following the Denver Broncos' bye week.

Moffitt is a third-year guard out of Wisconsin.

Moffitt is leaving more than $1 million on the table ($325,500 in guaranteed money for the remainder of the season and $752,000 in non-guaranteed salary in 2014).

Moffitt signed a four-year contract for nearly $3 million after he was the 75th overall pick in 2011.

"I just really thought about it and decided I'm not happy. I'm not happy at all," Moffitt told The Associated Press in a phone interview from Seattle. "And I think it's really madness to risk your body, risk your well-being and risk your happiness for money.

"Everybody, they just don't get it and they think it's crazy. But I think what I was doing is crazy."

Moffitt was acquired by the Broncos from the Seattle Seahawks in August and had appeared in two games this season.

Moffitt made about $1.8 million before taxes in his two and a half seasons in the NFL.

"I've saved enough. It's not like I'm sitting here and I'm a millionaire," he said. "That's what I kind of realized. I'm sitting here and I got to this point and I was like, what is the number that you need? How much do you really need? What do you want in life? And I decided that I don't really need to be a millionaire."

Moffitt majored in sociology at Wisconsin and said his worldview was really shaped over the past couple of years when he began studying the writings of the Dalai Lama and Noam Chomsky.

Moffitt never had a history of concussions, but acknowledged that blows sustained in practice and games were a concern.