Yeah, they can. But he's also a very seasoned and respected leader of the team. You need those types around to bring up the next batch of defenders. They can do that on the field or at training.Older players can decline pretty quickly. still 15 games to go. i don't see the logic.
If the club has decided they want Grimes around next year for that leadership and mentoring, regardless of whether his an automatic starter or not, then they are happy. Grimes is happy. Why wait? The club could very well be aware of which senior leaders we will lose at the end of the year and feel that we don't want to lose more.