The Carolina Panthers and cornerback Jaycee Horn have reached an agreement on a multi-year contract extension, the team announced Monday.
The four-year extension runs through the 2029 season and is worth up to $100 million with $70 million guaranteed, making Horn the highest-paid cornerback in NFL history, league sources told The Athletic.
Horn is coming off of his first Pro Bowl season after logging an interception, 13 passes defended and two sacks.
Carolina selected Horn with the eighth pick in the 2021 NFL Draft and when healthy, he has been a key player in the Panthers defense. Horn was limited to only three games during his rookie season but nabbed three interceptions in 2022. Horn dealt with injuries again in 2023, playing in only six games, but bounced back with a Pro Bowl campaign last season.
Why the Panthers paid him
Like most coaches, Dave Canales is big on establishing a winning culture in the locker room and practice field. Canales wasn’t in Charlotte when Horn was missing 29 of 51 games due to various injuries in his first three seasons after being selected in the first round in 2021. When Canales arrived last winter, he found a motivated player who changed up his offseason regimen in an effort to stay healthy and one “just so focused on helping the team,” Canales said at the combine.
The Panthers showed with Chuba Hubbard’s extension in the fall that those are the types of players they want to reward and set as an example for the rest of the roster. Now they’ve done it with Horn. In a big way. — Joe Person, Panthers beat writer
Did they overpay?
Horn’s $25 million average annual value pushed him past Jalen Ramsey ($24.1 million) and Patrick Surtain ($24 million) as the highest-paid defensive back in NFL history. Surtain, picked one spot below Horn in 2021, is the reigning Defensive Player of the Year who’s a two-time, first-team All-Pro selection and a three-time Pro Bowler. Horn made his first Pro Bowl last season. When healthy, Horn is one of the league’s most physical corners who can lock down half of the field. His availability over the next five seasons will determine how the deal is viewed. If Horn stays on the field, it will have been worth it — Person
Required reading
(Photo: Jared C. Tilton / Getty Images)