Carolina Panthers To Sign Ex-Packers OT Rasheed Walker in Major Fix to Offensive Line

The Carolina Panthers have their Ikem Ekwonu replacement. They have agreed to terms with offensive tackle Rasheed Walker on a one-year deal. This is a surprising move given Carolina's other expenses and the talent that Walker is.

The #Panthers have agreed to terms with OT Rasheed Walker on a one-year deal, per me and @TomPelissero. pic.twitter.com/lsFGFUM0VO
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 13, 2026

He was seen as one of the top offensive linemen on the market. Aside from Taylor Decker, Walker was viewed as the top left tackle, and he was a pretty young free agent. It is interesting that it's just a one-year deal, but the Panthers aren't ready to move on from Ekwonu just yet.

According to Spotrac, it's for $10 million, so it's not overly expensive. This is surprising as well. Spotrac projected that he'd sign for more than that.

Walker is a huge get for the Panthers. Their offensive line was in flux for the first time in a couple of seasons thanks to Cade Mays' exit and Ikem Ekwonu's troubling injury.

With Luke Fortner, the Panthers replaced Mays at a discount, but the left tackle spot was still in bad shape. Signing Stone Forsythe wasn't a needle-moving move at all. If he ended up playing, something went wrong.

Why the Panthers needed Rasheed Walker

It goes without saying that any competent offense needs a good left tackle (or right tackle if the QB is left-handed). The blind side protector is key, and having Ikem Ekwonu for the last few seasons has been good for Bryce Young.

Ekwonu isn't great. In fact, there were questions before his injury over his future with the Panthers beyond his 2026 fifth-year option. Then, the injury struck, so there were even more questions.

The Panthers don't know what he's going to look like in 2027 when he's healed, but it's telling that they signed Rasheed Walker to a one-year deal. He's barely 26. He's the sort of long-term replacement that would've made sense.

Perhaps Carolina didn't have the financial means to pull off a long-term deal like that. It's plausible after spending big on Devin Lloyd and Jaelan Phillips. They might have backloaded those deals to make cap space this year, and that prevented them from signing Walker beyond 2026.

It could also be that they still believe in Ekwonu and would like to take a chance on him when he's healthy. It's the sort of thing a player-friendly organization would do.

It looked like they'd draft a tackle after the first wave of free agency. The 19th pick looked certain to be used on a left tackle, but that's no longer the case. Once again, they're free to pick almost whatever they want.

They will still likely take a tackle at some point, but he'll be depth/developmental, since Ekwonu is a question mark, Walker is gone in 2027, and Moton's contract ends in 2027 and he's getting old. But for now, things look solid.