Carolina Panthers sign special teams star to extension

The Carolina Panthers are working through their list of unrestricted free agents and locked up a big one for the future on Thursday. Former Washington State linebacker and key special teams contributor Frankie Luvu signed a two-year extension. The deal is worth $9 million, according to Joe Person. It’s a huge increase for Luvu after his 2021 performance.

He finished the year tied for second on the team in special teams tackles, and had a forced fumble and a blocked punt last year. He also added 1.5 sacks, eight tackles for loss, and a forced fumble and fumble recovery on defense.

Based on the reported numbers in Luvu’s new deal, it’s easily the largest contract of his career so far. He made under a million in his first three years with the Jets before signing a one-year $1.1 million deal with Carolina last year.

Luvu is 25 years old and spent his first three seasons in the NFL with the New York Jets. At Washington State, he posted 6.5 sacks in his senior season.

Panthers extend J.J. Jansen

Though they still have 20 unrestricted free agents to deal with, the Panthers locked in a key contributor last week.

The longest-tenured player for Carolina is sticking around for one more year. The team announced long-snapper J.J. Jansen signed a one-year contract with them last week. He’s played on the Panthers since 2009 and in every single game for the team during that time span. He was originally signed as an undrafted free agent in 2008 by the Green Bay Packers.

Jansen has now officially played in 209 total regular-season games, and he’s only 12 games away from tying John Kasay for the Panthers’ franchise record. The former Notre Dame product was named to the Pro Bowl in 2014.

On3’s Wade Peery contributed to this report.