Kelvin Benjamin lands fifth-year option with Carolina Panthers
By John Buhler
Not wasting anytime, Carolina Panthers general manager David Gettleman wisely extends a fifth-year option to wide receiver Kelvin Benjamin.
The Carolina Panthers are looking to think a few moves ahead in getting their team back to good in the coming seasons. While he wasn’t going to hit free agency until 2018 at the earliest, Panthers general manager David Gettleman was proactive in offering a fifth year option to wide receiver Kelvin Benjamin.
Gettleman first informed the Panthers media about the fifth-year option on Friday. Max Henson of Panthers.com quickly reported the news of the fifth-year option for the Panthers’ No. 1 wide receiver.
GM Dave Gettleman said he will pick up the 5th year option on WR Kelvin Benjamin.
— Max Henson (@maxhenson) March 24, 2017
Since the Panthers took him No. 28 overall in the 2014 NFL Draft out of Florida State, Benjamin has 136 receptions for 1,949 yards and 16 touchdowns. When healthy, Benjamin is a viable No. 1 receiver in a strong NFC South division of wideouts. However, he did miss the entire 2015 NFL season due to injury. That was the year that Carolina went 15-1 en route to Super Bowl 50.
By handing out the fifth-year option, Benjamin won’t hit unrestricted free agency until the 2019 NFL offseason. This gives him two more years to see if he can’t become one of the better wide receivers in the NFC over that time. For Carolina to get back into the NFC Playoffs, Benjamin will have to continue to play at a high level.
His skill set as a wide receiver helps quarterback Cam Newton move the chains down the field. While he’s not the home-run threat that Newton likes to target deep, Benjamin is a great possession receiver that can play off Pro Bowl tight end Greg Olsen.
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These are the type of moves that smart organizations make. Not only was it a proactive more for the Panthers front office, it was pretty much a no-brainer on Gettleman’s behalf.