Carolina Panthers sign former Jacksonville Jaguars linebacker

On Thursday, the Carolina Panthers added some critical linebacker depth to their team, signing former Jacksonville Jaguars linebacker Damien Wilson, per NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo. The deal is for two years, per the report. He had a highly productive season last year for the Jaguars, racking up 106 tackles and three sacks.

The Panthers have made several other free agent acquisitions, including wide receiver Rashard Higgins, guard Austin Corbett, and running back D’Onta Foreman.

Foreman should be a very interesting pickup for the Panthers, especially with the uncertainty surrounding star running back Christian McCaffrey. In just nine games last season, Foreman rushed for over 550 rushing yards and three touchdowns. As a receiver, he had nine catches for 123 receiving yards. While Foreman is clearly not on the level of Christian McCaffrey, he’s a very solid addition to the running back room for the Panthers.

Wilson has been in the NFL since 2015, but had his most productive seasons the past three years. Before Jacksonville, he spent the 2019 and 2020 seasons with the Kansas City Chiefs. In 2015, he started his NFL career with the Dallas Cowboys. Thus far for his entire career, he’s racked up 381 tackles, 20 tackles for loss, seven sacks, and 17 quarterback hits.

Wilson played his college football with the Minnesota Golden Gophers. During his senior season, he started 12 of 13 games, leading the team with 119 tackles–the most by a Gopher since Kim Royston made 123 in 2011. Wilson will be a welcome addition to the Panthers linebacker room.

Who will the Panthers have at QB?

Unfortunately for Panthers fans, as of late Thursday night, they have been ruled out of the Deshaun Watson sweepstakes. That has to sting for any Carolina fan out there. The franchise couldn’t find a decent option at quarterback for much of the 2021-2022 campaign. Until they fix that position with a least a viable option, it’s going to be tough for the franchise to move forward. The Sam Darnold experiment simply did not work out. So the key question now is, where will they turn next?