Luke Kuechly Interested In New Role With Panthers

Adam Schefter of ESPN, citing a league source, reports that retired linebacker Luke Kuechly is interested in taking on a role with the Panthers as either an advisor, coach, executive or some other job that could help the team.

According to Schefter, it’s also possible Kuechly could pursue a job in television. However, Kuechly could be in demand around the league, given how respected he is.

While it remains to be seen what Kuechly will do, Schefter says it’s possible he could hold positions with the Panthers and a network at the same time.

On Saturday, Mike Garafolo of NFL Media reported that Kuechly has “preliminarily mulled” taking on a coaching or consultant role to stay involved in the NFL in some capacity.

Garafolo mentions that the Panthers would “love” to have Kuechly involved with their organization in some form or fashion and the expectation is that they will give him some time to figure out what’s next for him.

Kuechly announced that’s retiring from the NFL a few days ago. Garafolo says people around the league knew he was going to retire, but out of respect for him, they waited until he announced it publicly. 

Kuechly, 28, is a former first-round pick of the Panthers back in 2012. He was entering the fifth year of his six-year, $64.105 million contract and set to make a base salary of $10.3 million for the 2019 season.

For his career, Kuechly recorded 1,093 tackles, 12.5 sacks, 18 interceptions, seven forced fumbles, eight fumble recoveries, two defensive touchdowns and 67 passes defended. Kuechly was a seven-time Pro Bowler and a five-time first-team All-Pro.

We’ll have more regarding Kuechly as the news is available.