His death wouldn’t seem quite as guaranteed had the actor merely been dealing with a scheduling issue, as is the case with Lauren Cohan.
And to be fair, Rick might get spared and allowed to live out in the wilderness, never to be found again.
But he won’t be, because that would be the cheapest move imaginable.
Why Is It So Likely?: Andrew Lincoln’s Rick Grimes has long been considered one of the only unkillable characters on The Walking Dead, but those assumptions were proven wrong when it was revealed the actor himself chose to exit the show to spend more time with his family.