Panthers' Jaycee Horn Extension Puts Carolina on the Wrong Side of History

The Carolina Panthers just made history with the recently announce Jaycee Horn contract extension. Unfortunately, it isn't the good type of history.
Carolina Panthers cornerback Jaycee Horn (8) on the sidelines in the fourth quarter at Bank of America Stadium.
Carolina Panthers cornerback Jaycee Horn (8) on the sidelines in the fourth quarter at Bank of America Stadium. | Bob Donnan-Imagn Images

The NFL's free agency tampering window opened on Monday, allowing teams to negotiate contracts with outside free agents. But just as teams were gearing up to contact potential reinforcements, the Carolina Panthers announced some big contract news regarding one of their current players.

NFL insider Ian Rapoport is reporting that the Panthers have signed cornerback Jaycee Horn to a four-year contract extension worth $100 million. The mega-deal — which pays $25 million annually with $70 million guaranteed — makes Horn the highest-paid defensive back in league history.

Panthers Make Huge Mistake With Jaycee Horn Contract Extension

Although it's great to see a player being paid their worth, Horn hasn't exactly done enough to prove that he's worth being the richest DB in NFL history. It's the type of contract that could become ugly within a few seasons if he doesn't take his game to the next level.

The former South Carolina Gamecock showed plenty of potential throughout his collegiate career, resulting in his being drafted eighth overall by the Panthers in 2021. While he's stepped up at times by making key plays, Carolina fans haven't exactly seen a lot of Horn as injuries have limited him to only 37 appearances across his first four seasons.

In other words, he's only played in 54.4% of his available appearances thus far. One could argue that's too small of a sample size to prove that he's worth $70 million in guaranteed money.

The 2024 season was also the first time in his NFL career that Horn hit the 15-game mark. He set career highs in solo tackles (49), defended passes (13), and sacks (2.0) en route to his first-ever Pro Bowl appearance. As solid as that performance was on paper, he only finished the year as the No. 58-graded cornerback on Pro Football Focus in terms of defense (64.5) while finishing 86th in coverage (57.9).

In fact, he only had three performances last year with a coverage grade of 70.0 or better. Again, those are hardly "best cornerback in the NFL" type numbers.

Hopefully Horn can find a way to prove doubters wrong by showing that he's worth his notable pay raise. The Alpharetta, GA native only turned 25 years old in November, meaning (in theory) he's young enough to bring his game to the next level by working hard this offseason. Still, that might be asking for too much judging by how his career has progressed.

NFL teams are constantly making contract-related mistakes at this time of the offseason. Let's hope that Horn's new extension doesn't eventually put the Panthers on the wrong side of football history.

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