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Panthers Cement Offensive Success with Jalen Coker’s $35M Extension

Carolina Panthers’ GM Dan Morgan took a chance on an undrafted wideout in 2024. Jalen Coker has delivered when available, and was hot down the stretch in 2025.
Russell Baxter|
Jan 10, 2026; Charlotte, NC, USA; Carolina Panthers wide receiver Jalen Coker (18) during pregame warm ups before the NFC Wild Card Round game between the Carolina Panthers and the Los Angeles Rams at Bank of America Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images
Jan 10, 2026; Charlotte, NC, USA; Carolina Panthers wide receiver Jalen Coker (18) during pregame warm ups before the NFC Wild Card Round game between the Carolina Panthers and the Los Angeles Rams at Bank of America Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images | Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images

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Carolina Panthers

On Thursday evening, one of the key performers on offense for the defending NFC South champions is reportedly back in the fold, according to his agent. Of course, it was just a matter of time before the Carolina Panthers made a commitment to a player who finished second on the team in receiving yardage (394) this past season despite missing the first games of 2025.

General manager Dan Morgan added Holy Cross wide receiver Jalen Coker after the 2024 NFL draft. He opened some eyes during his debut campaign. Playing in 11 games, the 6’3”, 213-pound performer finished tied for fifth on the club with 32 catches. Those grabs added up to 478 yards and two touchdowns.

That yardage total ranked third on the club behind veteran Adam Thielen (615) and fellow 2024 rookie Xavier Legette—a first-round draft choice in April. Coker’s 14.9 yards per reception led Dave Canales’s team that season.

Jalen Coker’s 2025 debut didn’t come until Week 7

A quadriceps injury would delay Coker’s 2025 debut, and it took the talented performer a little time to get warmed up. In his first six games, he was targeted 19 times and caught 14 passes for 150 yards and zero touchdowns.

In Carolina’s Week 13 surprise of the visiting Los Angeles Rams, Coker finished the afternoon with four catches for 74 yards and a touchdown in the team’s 31-28 victory. His 33-yard scoring connection with quarterback Bryce Young came on a fourth-and-three in the third quarter, and that performance was the start of a strong stretch run for the young wideout.

Panthers’ WR Jalen Coker was hot down the stretch and in the playoffs

If you include his standout performance against Sean McVay’s club in the wild card round, Coker was targeted a combined 36 times in his final six outings. He hauled in 28 passes for 378 yards (13.5 average) and reached the end zone four times. In his first postseason performance of his young career, he burned the Rams for nine catches, 134 yards and a fourth-quarter touchdown in the Panthers’ heartbreaking 34-31 setback.

All told in 2025, Coker finished tied for fourth on Canales’s club with 33 catches. His 394 yards was second on the team, and his three touchdown grabs were tied for the second-most on the squad—all this in 11 regular-season outings.

WRs Jalen Coker and Tetairoa McMillan are Carolina’s dynamic duo

Jalen Coker and Tetairoa McMilllan
Scott Kinser-Imagn Images

Of course, 2025 first-round pick Tetairoa McMillan was the headliner in the wide receiver room this past season. The NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year totaled 70 receptions for 1,014 yards and seven scores, and he and Coker emerged as a productive tandem late this past season.

In Carolina’s final six outings, including the playoff loss to the Rams, they teamed for 47 catches, 690 yards and six touchdowns—four of those scores by Coker. It’s a duo that certainly bears a closer look this upcoming season.

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Russell Baxter
RUSSELL BAXTER

Russell S. Baxter has been writing and researching the game of football for more than 40 years, and on numerous platforms. That includes television, as he spent more than two decades at ESPN, and was part of shows that garnered five Emmy Awards. He also spent the 2015 NFL season with Thursday Night Football on CBS/NFLN.

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