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The neck injury that torpedoed the 2021 season for Seattle Seahawks running back Chris Carson will end his career.

NFL Network's Ian Rapoport reported Tuesday, citing a source informed of the situation, that Carson has decided to retire due to the injury.

The decision comes after the running back failed his physical, Rapoport added. The team will release him with a failed physical designation, which allows the RB to receive injury protection benefits.

The 27-year-old played in just four games last season before being sidelined by the injury.

In June, Carson was optimistic he'd be able to return at some point this season.

"Oh, we still going right now," Carson said at the time. "I see myself playing until I feel like stopping. My mindset is never to give up. So, I'm staying positive like I said, and continue to fight and get back onto the field."

Ultimately, the neck injury will not allow Carson to get back on the field. Given the physical nature of football and the seriousness of the injury, he becomes the latest player to see his career prematurely ended by a neck issue.

In five seasons with the Seahawks after being selected in the seventh round of the 2017 draft out of Oklahoma State, Carson was one of the most underrated, hard-nosed backs in the NFL. He ran with a purpose, owning the speed to get the edge and ability to drag tacklers for extra yards on every run.

Carson finishes his career with 3,502 yards on 796 carries and 24 TDs, including back-to-back 1,100-plus rushing campaigns in 2018 and 2019.

As NFL.com notes, with Carson retired, the Seahawks will plow forward with Rashaad Penny and rookie running back Kenneth Walker III. Seattle's selection of Walker in the second round underscored the uncertain nature of Carson's future. Now that the veteran is retiring, Walker and Penny will battle for reps in the ground-first offense Pete Carroll favors.

With a compact build and powerful style, Walker looks like an early-down option. He's also got elite speed, running a 4.38-second 40 at the Scouting Combine, which certainly helped his draft stock. Walker finished sixth in Heisman Trophy voting last season after rushing for 1,636 yards and 18 touchdowns.

He caught 19 passes in three seasons, so it's fair to wonder how much he'll factor into the passing game, but expecting him to push Penny for a between-the-tackles role is well within the range of possible outcomes here.

Penny is returning to the Seahawks on a one-year prove-it deal after a stellar finish to an injury-plagued first 3½ seasons in the NFL.

In fact, Penny finished the 2021 season with one of the most prolific rushing stretches in Seahawks history. With Chris Carson on injured reserve, Penny led the NFL with 671 rushing yards -- 208 yards more than anyone else -- over the final five games. In addition, he ran for a career-best 190 yards in the season finale. He scored six rushing touchdowns over those final five games -- one more than he scored over his first 32 regular-season games.

To that point, Penny's career had been marred by a long list of injuries, including a torn ACL in December 2019 (just as he was starting to break out) that sidelined him for much of 2020. He also missed five games after injuring a calf in the 2021 opener and another game in November because of a pulled hamstring. Now, with Russell Wilson shipped off to Denver and with Carson's future uncertain coming off season-ending neck surgery, the Seahawks need Penny's explosiveness to take the pressure off new QB Drew Lock. Given his history, there will be skeptics -- especially with Walker, one of the top backs in this year's draft, in the fold.

Still, smart fantasy managers will leverage all that if it offers sufficient draft-day value.