The Carolina Panthers signed Luke Kuechly to a five-year contract extension, the team announced Thursday. The deal is worth $62 million and will make Kuechly the highest-paid inside linebacker in the NFL, according to Rand Getlin of the NFL Network.
Panthers’ Luke Kuechly becomes highest-paid ILB with new contract
The All-Pro is now the highest-paid inside linebacker in the NFL.
Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports
Kuechly was in the fourth and final season of the $12.6 million rookie deal he signed with the Panthers after they drafted him ninth overall in 2012. However, he was under Panthers control through 2016 after the team picked up his fifth-year, $11.058 million option.
“Luke is one of the best young players in the NFL,” general manager Dave Gettleman said, “And I’m very excited that the extension is done. Like Cam Newton’s extension, this contract allows us to do the long-term planning and have the fixed cost that we need to continue to build the best team possible.”
Talks between the 24-year-old two-time All Pro and Carolina “heated up” during training camp, according to the Charlotte Observer. Toward the beginning of camp, the likelihood of an extension being worked out was pegged as a “50-50” proposition. But the two sides progressed in mid-August, with Panthers general manager Dave Gettleman stating that he would not negotiate contracts during the season. That, now, will no longer be an issue.
“Luke is a special player and has been a big reason why we’ve had success on defense,” head coach Ron Rivera said, “He has the skillset you want in a middle linebacker -- a great first step, the ability to play downhill and drop into coverage -- and he has great command of our defense and what we want to do schematically.”
In his four seasons in the NFL Kuechly has established himself as one of the best defensive players in the league. He was name NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year in 2012, Defensive Player of the Year in 2013 and has led the league in tackles three times. Kuechly was the first player to be named Defensive Rookie of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year in consecutive years since Lawrence Taylor in 1981 and ‘82. Pro Football Focus ranked Kuechly as the NFL’s ninth best player in 2014.
This deal comes just a couple months after the the Panthers’ decision to ink quarterback Cam Newton to a five-year extension. Carolina will now have its best offensive player and its best defensive player under contract for the foreseeable future.
Kuechly is the third young middle linebacker to sign a major contract extension this summer. Bobby Wagner and the Seahawks agreed to a four-year, $43 million deal in early August while Lavonte David and the Buccaneers came to terms on a five-year, $50.25 million contract a few weeks later.
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