Apparently, the 2025 season is no sure thing for Carolina Panthers cornerback Jaycee Horn.
The team’s president of football operations and general manager Dan Morgan spoke with reporters via a Zoom call from the NFL’s Annual League Meeting on Monday. When asked if the team will exercise the fifth-year option on Horn, he did not provide a definitive answer.
Dan Morgan says Panthers have not yet made a decision on Jaycee Horn's fifth-year option. Says team loves Horn; mentions the injuries that have been "out of his control."
— Joe Person (@josephperson) March 25, 2024
Carolina selected Horn with the eighth overall pick of the 2021 NFL draft. While he’s proven that his talent and effectiveness is absolutely undeniable, his availability is a completely different story.
The 24-year-old defender has dealt with injury after injury as a pro—from breaking his foot three games into his rookie campaign, to breaking his wrist near the end of 2022 and to sustaining a hamstring strain in the 2023 regular-season opener.
As a result, Horn has played in just 22 of a possible 51 games since entering the league.
The Panthers have until May 2 to either exercise or decline Horn’s fifth-year option. The option would cost the team approximately $12.4 million for the 2025 season.
[lawrence-related id=694008,692858,693999]