Panthers GM Dan Morgan provides update on potential Derrick Brown extension

Maybe the Carolina Panthers have themselves a standout defender who they can actually keep.

On Monday, the team’s president of football operations and general manager Dan Morgan talked with reporters on a Zoom call from the NFL’s Annual League Meeting. When asked about defensive tackle Derrick Brown, who is entering the fifth-year option on his rookie deal, he expressed some optimism about a potential contract extension.

“I’m not going to put any timetable on it; we have had some good discussions with his agent,” Morgan said, via Darin Gantt of Panthers.com. “But as of right now, we’re working through that, and hopefully, it ends up working out at the end, which I think it will.”

Brown is coming off the first Pro Bowl season of his NFL career. In fact, it was no ordinary all-star campaign—as the 25-year-old broke the all-time single-season record for tackles by a defensive lineman.

A few of Brown’s fellow interior linemen got their big paydays this offseason—including Kansas City’s Chris Jones, Las Vegas’ Christian Wilkins and Baltimore’s Justin Madubuike. Jones set the market at a $158 million pact, with Wilkins at $110 million and Madubuike at $98 million.

So, is Brown next?