Dont'a Hightower, who won three Super Bowls with the New England Patriots in his nine-year career, has announced his retirement.

"I can't think of a better story than the one I wrote in New England," Hightower wrote on The Players' Tribune. "So this is a happy day for me ... Today, I'm totally at peace knowing that I gave this franchise every ounce of sweat I had left."

Hightower, 33, didn't play in 2020 as a COVID opt-out, and he also sat out the 2022 season.

He played in 117 regular-season games (114 starts) and totaled 569 tackles and 27 sacks. He appeared in 17 playoff games, starting all of them, amassing 81 tackles and three sacks.