Shaq Thompson wants to be a Carolina Panthers lifer.
The veteran linebacker spoke with reporters on Monday morning, less than 24 hours following his team’s 44-38 win in their regular-season finale against the Atlanta Falcons. But will that finale also prove to be the last for Thompson as a member of the organization?
As his free agency lies ahead this offseason, Thompson was asked about his future in Carolina.
“Yeah, I would love to end my career here,” he stated. “One of the guys in history to play with one team. It’s up to them. These two injuries were fluky. Everyone knows about the one last year and, of course, about the one this year. There’s nothing I can do. But it happened, get better, come back strong.”
Thompson, thanks to a broken fibula in 2023 and an Achilles tear in 2024, has been limited to just six games over the past two seasons. Those two injuries followed what was a career year for him in 2022—where he posted 135 total tackles.
Set to turn 31 years old in April, Thompson was then asked how much he believes he has left in the tank.
“Probably got about three [years], three to four left in me,” he replied.
Carolina selected Thompson in the first round of the 2015 NFL draft. He is currently the second-longest tenured Panther (10 seasons), behind long snapper JJ Jansen (16).
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