Carolina Panthers make decision on CB Jaycee Horn’s fifth-year contract option for 2025

The Carolina Panthers plan to keep cornerback Jaycee Horn on their roster beyond the 2024 season.

The Panthers picked up Horn’s fifth-year contract option on his rookie deal Friday, a league source confirmed to The Charlotte Observer. NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport first reported the option pickup.

The option now fully guarantees Horn’s salaries in 2024 and 2025. He is set to make $3.53 million this season. He is expected to make $12.5 million next year, according to Over the Cap.

Horn’s fifth-year option pick up wasn’t a foregone conclusion, as the 2021 first-round pick has dealt with injury issues throughout the first three years of his career. He has appeared in just 22 games over the past three seasons, missing 29 total games due to injury during that span. Last season, Horn missed 11 games due to a recurring hamstring injury, which required surgery.

But Horn has shown immense potential when healthy. The 6-foot-1, 200-pound cornerback has produced 85 tackles, 13 pass breakups and 4 interceptions in limited action.

Following the departures of Donte Jackson and CJ Henderson, Horn will lead a cornerback group that also features Dane Jackson, Troy Hill, Dicaprio Bootle and D’Shawn Jamison. Horn and Jackson are signed through 2025 or longer.

The Panthers have picked up the fifth-year option for Brian Burns and Derrick Brown in previous years. Burns played through his fifth-year option in 2023 and was franchise-tagged this offseason before being traded to the New York Giants. Brown was set to play on his fifth-year option this season, but instead signed a four-year, $96 million contract extension with Carolina in April.

The Panthers are hoping that Horn’s situation mirrors Brown’s outcome, instead of the Burns’ trade fate.