The Carolina Panthers are signing defensive sort out Derrick Brown Jr. to a four-year, $96 million contract extension with $63.165 million assured, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported Friday on X.
Brown was one of many few vibrant spots on a 2-15 Panthers crew this previous season, setting an NFL report for tackles by a defensive lineman en path to his first Professional Bowl. His efficiency, mixed with the poor dealing with of former Panthers linebacker Brian Burns state of affairs, made this extension one thing new common supervisor Dan Morgan needed to get achieved.
“[Brown’s] had a heck of a yr,” defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero advised Panthers reporter Darin Gantt.
“He is been so disruptive. I do not suppose it is arguably — I feel he is been the perfect run defender within the NFL this yr,” Evero continued. “He is achieved a heck of a job dashing the quarterback and creating pressures, the interception, the batted balls. There’s been a lot manufacturing. The management. He is been instrumental in every thing that we have achieved.”
Carolina has made savvy strikes in free company, headlined by the additions of guard Robert Hunt and linebackers Jadeveon Clowney and D.J. Wonnum. As a result of the Panthers do not have a first-round choose on this yr’s draft, it was crucial for the crew so as to add expertise through the free-agent market.
The Panthers have not made the NFL playoffs or had a successful season since 2017, dropping at the least 9 video games every season since. These strikes will not make Carolina anybody’s Tremendous Bowl sleeper choose, however they’ll assist them compete in a comparatively weak NFC South, received final season by the 9-8 Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
That is not a really excessive bar, however after so many lean years within the David Tepper period, it is a welcome signal of progress for downtrodden Panthers followers.
