Would the Panthers consider trading Jaycee Horn if an agreement isn't reached in the coming weeks?
Dan Morgan cannot have a repeat of what happened with Brian Burns.
Carolina Panthers cornerback Jaycee Horn will enter the 2025 NFL season on the final year of his rookie contract.
At the NFL Combine last week, President of Football Operations/General Manager Dan Morgan stated that Executive Vice President of Football Operations Brandt Tilis had spoken to Horn’s representatives about an extension.
Horn, who turns 27 in late November, was the 8th selection of the 2021 NFL Draft.
On Monday, Joe Person from The Athletic reported that contract talks continued and that both sides were interested in completing a deal. Person reported that Horn was looking for a contract comparable to the highest-paid corners in the league where the average annual value was at or above $20 million.
Per overthecap.com, five cornerbacks make over $20 million annually while another six are in the $19 million range.
The question with Horn has been durability. Horn has played 37 out of a possible 68 games (54 percent) in his first four seasons. He started the first 15 games of the 2024 campaign before missing the final two.
From a durability standpoint, seven of the 11 cornerbacks above the $19 million mark have played over 10 games each season they’ve been in the league. The exceptions are Jaire Alexander, Trevon Diggs, Marshon Lattimore and L’Jarius Sneed.
Alexander has missed 10 or more games in three of the last four seasons and may get released. Diggs has played in 13 games the last two seasons. Lattimore was dealt to Washington last season and played nine games total, he missed 10 in 2022 and seven in 2023. Sneed missed double digit games for the first time in his career in 2024.
Per FTN’s Coverage DVOA for 2024, Horn ranked 25th amongst all corners in the league through week 17 for corners that faced at least 350 routes.1 Surtain - taken one pick after Horn in 2021 - was ranked first and won Defensive Player of the Year honors. Horn was ranked above Denzel Ward (32nd) and Tyson Campbell (37th) in FTN’s Coverage DVOA metric.
Do the Panthers view Horn as a $19 to $20 million a year player? If they don’t and Horn insists on getting paid within that range, would the Panthers consider trading him to avoid a repeat of the Brian Burns saga?
The Panthers have holes all over their roster and they likely cannot plug each one this offseason. They have limited premium draft capital, with only three picks in the top 100 and no selections between 8 and 57.
If they cannot come to an agreement with Horn in the coming weeks, the Panthers would be wise not to sit idle as they did with Burns. Obviously the caveat here is that the Panthers weren’t reportedly offered a Godfather type draft haul for Horn as the Rams did for Burns prior to the 2022 trade deadline.
This isn’t to suggest that the Panthers should just trade Horn for mid round selections. Morgan was part of the front office that oversaw the Burns debacle and he knows he cannot have a repeat of that situation.
"They're talking; things are moving along, so hopefully, we get something done there sooner than later," Morgan said at the combine.
If Horn’s potential extension isn’t resolved by the end of March or even the NFL Draft, would the Panthers consider moving him?
If the Panthers have learned from their previous mistakes, we’ll find out sooner rather than later.
Full season numbers through Week 18 were not available on FTN’s website.