Projecting Carolina Panthers' Stud Jalen Coker's Inevitable Extension

The Carolina Panthers have a really good wide receiver from the 2024 class, and it's not Xavier Legette. Jalen Coker has outplayed him by a pretty fair margin, and Coker has become the WR2 behind Tetairoa McMillan.

Because of his UDFA status, Coker is an exclusive-rights free agent right now. The Panthers can tender him for one year, and he can't decline, but it behooves them to go ahead and extend him right now.

His price is only rising, and he's an integral part of the offense moving forward. What might a deal look like?

What will Jalen Coker's eventual extension with Panthers look like?

Carolina Panthers wide receiver Jalen Coker (18) makes a catch against the Los Angeles Rams | Bob Donnan-Imagn Images

The Panthers don't have a ton of data on Jalen Coker since he has struggled a bit with injuries in both of his two NFL seasons, but what they have seen is more than enough. He needs to be here for the foreseeable future.

Doing a deal now is beneficial, because if he plays a full season in 2026 and keeps up his progress, the price will jump substantially. But nailing down exactly how much Coker is worth right now is a tricky process.

He's clearly good, and his UDFA status doesn't really mean anything anymore. He's also still very young, which only pushes the price up. However, he's been hurt, and he's not been a true WR1 or anything of that level.

He's not George Pickens, for example, so he isn't going to sign a contract worth $30 million AAV. He's not even Mike Evans, despite being much younger, so he probably won't sign for $13 million AAV as Spotrac projects.

Romeo Doubs is a free agent, and he's a fairly good comparison. Doubs has never looked like a WR1, but he has mostly been a good WR2. He's played in 59 of 68 possible games, so the injury bug hasn't ignored him.

Doubs is projected to sign a deal for $12 million. If we take a little bit off for Coker's more significant health issues and the fact that he has two years of production versus four for Doubs, we land somewhere in the $8-$10 million range.

Because the Panthers know how valuable Coker is to the offense and how great a target he is for Bryce Young, they'll probably lean on the more expensive side of that range.

Now for the years. Coker is going to be 25 shortly after the 2026 NFL season begins, so he's still pretty young. The Panthers could easily try to extend him for four years, though the production level probably doesn't warrant five or more.

That means the Panthers will probably end up extending Coker to a four-year, $38 million deal. For a solid WR2, that's far from a bad price.

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