Carolina Panthers vet blasts ESPN reporter: 'He doesn't know a thing about me'

Austin Corbett takes umbrage at the way a Panthers beat reporter described his offseason goal.

CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA - SEPTEMBER 25: Austin Corbett #63 of the Carolina Panthers looks over the New Orleans Saints defense during their game at Bank of America Stadium on September 25, 2022 in Charlotte, North Carolina. / (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images)

When you're covering an NFL team you never want to be the main story of the day. Sometimes that's inevitable if you clash with a player or a coach or a team owner. In this case, ESPN's Carolina Panthers beat reporter David Newton is the main character for this one.

The last time that we heard about Panthers center and pending free agent Austin Corbett, the team had pushed back a critical deadline on his contract so that they could buy more time to work out a deal. Today was the original deadline but now they have until March 11.

In the interim, there was a piece from Newton on ESPN that Corbett wants to play for a team where he doesn't have to compete for a starting job. Here's what Newton wrote.

"Corbett has been limited to nine starts the past two seasons because of injuries. He wants to play for a team where there really isn't a competition for the position. That's now happening at Carolina, where Cade Mays is a younger and less expensive version who did a solid job replacing Corbett this past season. For a team in rebuild mode it just makes sense to spend money elsewhere."

Apparently Corbett does not agree with that characterization, because he's clearly PO'd over it. Here's how he responded on Friday morning.

David Newton claims he NEEDS to be in our locker room when we’re getting out of practice/showers to know us on a personal level and share our stories…
Yet after three years together he doesn’t know a thing about me. https://t.co/bUSxItTWap

— Austin Corbett (@BigCorbs73) February 28, 2025

Not extending the deadlines for fellow centers/pending free agents Brady Christensen and Cade Mays might indicate that the team prefers Corbett to return as their starting center in 2025, but there's been no deal announced yet.

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