Rasheed Walker signed a one-year deal worth up to $10 million with the Carolina Panthers in free agency, with a $4 million base and another $6 million tied to incentives.Â
When ESPN insider Jeremy Fowler polled league executives, scouts, and coaches on their favorite offseason moves, Walker's contract kept coming up as one of the steals of the cycle.
"Nobody was paying him $20 million [a year], but no way I thought it would be that low," an AFC executive told Fowler. "Capable tackles usually get way more than that. That's a great deal for Carolina. I'm thinking many teams would have done that deal."
Carolina Panthers may be sitting on a veteran steal in Rasheed Walker
A year earlier, Dan Moore Jr. landed a four-year, $82 million deal from the Tennessee Titans in a similar market, which made Walker's price tag look like it should've started with a two.
But late-season struggles and a January arrest at LaGuardia Airport on a gun charge spooked teams. The league as a whole seemed to sour on big tackle contracts this cycle. Carolina capitalized.
General manager Dan Morgan made a habit of finding value this offseason instead of overpaying for it. He signed center Luke Fortner on a one-year deal, drafted Sam Hecht in the fifth round, re-signed safety Nick Scott, and still grabbed Zakee Wheatley via a Day 3 draft trade-up.
Walker fits the same blueprint of a proven starter, acquired cheaply, with the roster flexibility to walk away after one year if it doesn't work out.
The thing is, this isn't a reclamation project. Walker started 48 games across his final three seasons with the Green Bay Packers and didn't miss a snap due to injury in that stretch. His pass block grade has consistently outpaced his run block grade, exactly the profile a quarterback like Bryce Young needs for his blindside.
However, the Panthers also used their first-round pick on Monroe Freeling, which, on the surface, could make the Walker signing seem redundant. It's the opposite.Â
Freeling still has to beat out a proven veteran in camp, and Walker's contract year motivation only raises the floor at one of the most important positions on the roster.Â
The Panthers viewed Walker as a smart value signing when free agency opened. Now that NFL executives across the league are praising the move as one of the offseason's best bargains, it is becoming increasingly obvious that Morgan may have made one of his most important additions yet.
And if Walker delivers the protection Carolina expects, Young could be the one who benefits the most.
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