Did the Panthers just make a huge mistake with massive contract?

The Carolina Panthers may have made a mistake with this huge contract before NFL free agency.

Nov 27, 2022; Charlotte, North Carolina, USA; Carolina Panthers cornerback Jaycee Horn (8) runs on to the field at Bank of America Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-Imagn Images / Bob Donnan-Imagn Images

The Carolina Panthers decided to extend cornerback Jaycee Horn on Monday, but they didn't just extend him; they made him the highest-paid defensive back in NFL history.

The Panthers handed Horn a four-year, $100 million deal that could potentially reach $108 million with incentives. The contract also contains $70 million in guaranteed money.

Let me preface all of this by saying that when Horn is healthy, he is really good. He made the Pro Bowl this past season after registering 68 tackles, a couple of sacks, an interception and 13 passes defended.

However, Horn was definitely not the best player at his position in 2024, and based on the fact that he registered a 57.9 coverage grade from Pro Football Focus, he may not even be in the running for one of the very top spots (no, Pro Football Focus isn't gospel, but it does typically give a general idea of how well a player has produced).

But there's more: Horn has been in the NFL for four seasons, and he has never played a full 17-game campaign. As a matter of fact, he has appeared in just 37 of a possible 68 contests thus far in his professional career. And he just landed $70 million guaranteed.

For a Panthers franchise that has not made the playoffs in eight years and really can't afford to make any major mistake as they try and complete the back end of their rebuild, this gargantuan extension for Horn may have been a mistake.

Look, I get it: Carolina finished with the worst defense in NFL history this past season, so it wanted to ensure that it locked up its best defensive player for the long haul. But Horn still had another year remaining on his deal.

The Panthers obviously did not want to risk letting Horn test free agency, but it may have been wiser to see if he made it through 2025 healthy before giving him all this money up front.

Heck, even this past year, Horn missed a couple of games, and again, it's not like he was Champ Bailey or Deion Sanders out there. He was very good, but he may not have even been genuinely elite.

Hopefully, Horn is able to stay healthy and this deal ends up looking good for Carolina in a couple of years, because right now, there is every reason to have trepidation about this monster extension working out for the Panthers over the course of the next several seasons.

Nov 3, 2024; Charlotte, North Carolina, USA; Carolina Panthers cornerback Jaycee Horn (8) in the first quarter at Bank of America Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-Imagn Images / Bob Donnan-Imagn Images

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