CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) – The Carolina Panthers made sure Kawann Short’s contract situation wasn’t going to end the same away Josh Norman’s did a year ago.
The Panthers signed Short, their franchise player, to a five-year contract extension on Monday, keeping the Pro Bowl defensive tackle with the team through the 2021 season.
The deal is worth $80 million, according to a person familiar with the negotiations. The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the team doesn’t release financial terms of contracts.
In 2016, the Panthers had place the franchise tag on Norman, an All-Pro cornerback, only to later rescind the offer after being unable to reach terms on a contract extension. Norman became a free agent and signed a blockbuster deal a few days later with a Washington Redskins, leaving a gaping hole in Carolina’s secondary.
“I knew it wasn’t going to turn it out like (Norman’s situation) because I knew I was either going to sign the (franchise) tender or get an extension,” Short said Monday on a teleconference. “That whole Josh Norman situation, that is still my guy and I talk to him a lot, but I knew it wasn’t going to go that route.”