Ian Rapoport reports that Horn will get $70 million in guarantees. This was a stated No. 1 priority for the Panthers all offseason, and they managed to secure Horn before free agency opened. Horn has yet to play a full season, topping out at 15 games for the Panthers last year and struggling with injuries. From that standpoint, it’s an awful lot of money to throw at a corner who has only a Pro Bowl appearance to his name in four years. Horn has the talent to make the extension look fair, but there’s some downside risk here for Carolina.

It was listed as a “top priority” for the Panthers by beat writers in January. It seems that Carolina wants to operate with urgency as Horn enters his fifth-year option season, perhaps because lowering his cap figure will help the team spend more in free agency. Horn has been injury-prone in his first four years in the league, but has played up to his lofty draft position when healthy more often than not.

Horn had a down year in 2024, with a career-low 57.9 PFF coverage grade, but everyone suffered as the Panthers failed to bring in the Jimmys and Joes to run Ejiro Evero’s Xs and Os. Horn did play more than 800 snaps for the first time in his career. The 2021 first-round pick is under contract for next season via his fifth-year option. Negotiating with him early in the offseason to lower his $12.4 million cap figure would likely get the Panthers some more space for free agency.