Breaking: Panthers Are Closing In On Deal To Sign $12.25 million Edge Rusher

Although the Panthers have added a number of outside linebackers, more support will be required before Week 1 considering what the team lost. This is still a pursuit in progress, even if another team has shown considerable interest.

According to GM Dan Morgan’s Monday statement (via Joe Person of The Athletic), Carolina is still interested in Jadeveon Clowney. The organization is still in contact with the camp of the former No. 1 overall choice.

Early in free agency, Clowney visited the Panthers, but the Jets have been the team most closely associated with the veteran edge rusher of late.

According to a recent source, the Jets are “very motivated” to land Clowney, and they have been in frequent communication ever since their most recent meeting. The Panthers hosted Chase Young and D.J. Wonnum the same day they first met the native of South Carolina.

Young’s market was hampered by a neck ailment when he signed with the Saints; no team cleared him medically this offseason. Wonnum did pledge to Carolina, which also gambled on K’Lavon Chaisson, a former first-round pick of Jacksonville. However, neither of these two would be a starting-caliber offensive tandem, so the Panthers would still need to make an improvement.

Naturally, the Panthers dealt Brian Burns to the Giants in exchange for a 2024 fifth-round pick, a 2024 second-round pick, and a pair of 2025 fifths. This was the end of an interesting story that, notoriously, featured an offer from the Rams for two first-round picks and a third back in 2022. At least from the Panthers’ perspective, it was an unimpressive one.

Yetur Gross-Matos, a former starter who the Panthers invested in the second round, inked a two-year, $18 million contract with the 49ers.

The 31-year-old Clowney has a track record of being a patient free agent. The one-time mega-prospect never saw a big extension or free agency deal come to pass; instead, he has made a good amount of money signing one-year contracts and moving around the league. It would be Clowney’s seventh one-year contract if he signs one more.

He also used the franchise tag for the 2019 season while playing with the Seahawks. Clowney agreed to two contracts with the Browns in April 2021 and May 2022, but he didn’t sign with the team until September 2020. He was one of two late-summer OLB acquisitions made by the Ravens last summer, along with Kyle Van Noy, after joining them in August.

Van Noy and Clowney both had successful seasons in Baltimore, which should result in a better 2024 contract than his $2.55 million 2023 payment. Clowney recorded 9.5 sacks, matching his career high.

As a team, Carolina only managed 27, and Burns scored eight of those goals. Even though they don’t have a first-round pick, the Panthers will probably look to the draft as well in this situation. However, Clowney would be a good temporary replacement for Ejiro Evero this season.