Panthers Picking Up OLB Shaq Thompson’s Fifth-Year Option

According to Ian Rapoport, the Panthers are exercising OLB Shaq Thompson‘s fifth-year option for the 2019 season.

The fifth-year option will run the Panthers $9,232,000 for the 2019 season. It’s worth mentioning that the fifth-year option is only guaranteed for injury and won’t prevent the two parties from working on a long-term extension in the next year or so.

Back in March, Joe Person of the Charlotte Observer, citing an NFL source, reported that the Panthers planned to pick up Thompson’s fifth-year option, so this was expected to occur.

The fifth-year option will run the Panthers over $8.7 million, but is guaranteed only for injury.

Thompson, 23, is a former first-round pick of the Panthers back in 2015. He’s currently in the final year of his four-year, $8.808 million contract that included $7.172 million guaranteed and stands to make a base salary of $936,000 for the 2018 season.

In 2017, Thompson appeared in 14 games for the Panthers and recorded 61 tackles, two sacks, a forced fumble and a pass defense. Pro Football Focus has him rated as the No. 30 linebacker out of 87 qualifying players.