Panthers Sign Charles Johnson To Longterm Deal
Added on Jul 27, 2011 by Jack Thurman in
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During their glory years, the Carolina Panthers were a team that won with defense. On Tuesday they made a big committment to rebuilding that legacy. The Panthers have offered free agent defensive end Charles Johnson a 6 year, $72 million contract which includes a $30 million signing bonus. The team confirmed the offer on Tuesday and Johnson has said that he’ll sign the new contract later this week.
Although no official communication between teams and players was permitted during the lockout Johnson says the Panthers made it clear that retaining his services was a top priority:
“The Panthers told me the whole time they were going to come after me hard. I had to see it to believe, but they did.”
He sounded to be almost overwhelmed by the financial windfall he’s about to experience, adding with a laugh:
“Could you have turned that down?”
Johnson was interested in talking to the Atlanta Falcons due to his ties to North Georgia, but said that he considers Charlotte home now:
“A lot of people in my family were rooting for me to sign with Atlanta because it was closer to home and they could come see me play. But I think they understand.”
“Once you are settled in somewhere you get comfortable. Money aside, it wasn’t a hard decision for me to leave because I am tied into Charlotte.”
The Falcons were reportedly interested but that cooled when it became apparent how much Carolina was willing to pay to keep Johnson. Johnson can sign his deal on Friday but can’t rejoin the Panthers until August 4th due to new league rules. In the interim he’ll remain in his off season home in Miami and train. He’s looking forward to getting back to work:
“To say I’m thankful doesn’t begin to describe it. I’m so excited. I’m ready to get back to football.”
Johnson showed considerable promise playing behind veterans Tyler Brayton and Julius Peppers but really came into his own last season, his first as a starter. Johnson had 11 1/2 sacks in 2010 and gave the Panthers a strong pass rush–a very important building block on a team trying to return to contention.
