Panthers defensive end Derrick Brown agrees to four-year, $96 million extension
Carolina Panthers' Derrick Brown (95) walks off the field after an NFL football game against the Atlanta Falcons in Charlotte, N.C., Dec. 17, 2023. Derrick Brown is staying in Carolina. Brown has agreed to a four-year, $96 million extension that includes $63.1 million in guaranteed money, according to his agents, Drew Rosenhaus, Jason Rosenhaus and Robert Bailey. Credit: AP/Jacob Kupferman
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Pro Bowl defensive end Derrick Brown is staying in Carolina.
Brown agreed to a four-year, $96 million extension that includes $63.1 million in guaranteed money on Friday, according to his agents Drew Rosenhaus, Jason Rosenhaus and Robert Bailey.
Brown, a first-round pick in 2000 out of Auburn, is coming off a year in which he set an NFL record for tackles by a defensive lineman with 103, breaking the mark of 98 set by Miami’s Christian Wilkins in 2022. Tackles became an official NFL stat in 1994.
The 6-foot-5, 320-pound Brown rarely came off the field last season, playing in 89% of the team's snaps.
Brown had shown signs of a breakout season.
Coming off a 2022 season in which he set a Panthers record for tackles by a lineman with 67, he took his game to a different level last season after the Panthers switched to a 3-4 defensive scheme under coordinator Ejiro Evero.
Brown has 245 tackles and eight sacks during his four-year career in Carolina.
He was in the final year of his rookie contract and was set to make $11.7 million in 2024.
