Has Shaq Thompson Played His Last Game in Carolina?

Throughout the week, the Carolina Panthers have spent much of their time restructuring the contracts offensive linemen Austin Corbett and Taylor Moton and safety Xavier Woods, while finding other ways to free up cap space heading into free agency which begins at the start of next week.

The one move many assume Carolina will make his cutting veteran linebacker Shaq Thompson. By doing so, the Panthers will create $13.2 million in cap space. But the team doesn't have to move on from him. Thompson is set to become an unrestricted free agent at the end of next season, so if they view him as a key piece to the defense moving forward they can either restructure him or go ahead and try to work out a contract extension and allocate the money in a way where it doesn't carry a big cap hit in 2023.

Thompson played in every game in 2022, marking just the second time he's done so in his career. He set a career-high 135 tackles and also recorded eight tackles for loss, three QB hits, one fumble recovery, and one forced fumble.

Last month, new Panthers defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero was asked if he would like to have Thompson on his defense and how he would fit in his 3-4 scheme.

"Those are all questions that are above my pay grade but if you talk about the player, that's definitely a player that I really admire. I think he's a heck of a player and definitely would love to coach him. He [fits] very well. He's an inside backer. He's a three-down player. He's a guy that can play the run game. He's good in zone coverage. He can see the quarterback. He can match running backs. He fits just right."

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