Carolina is beefing up Derrick Brown‘s supporting cast. After adding Rams nose tackle Bobby Brown, the Panthers are bringing in ex-Chiefs Chris Jones sidekick Tershawn Wharton.
Following a production uptick in a contract year, Wharton will cash in big. He is heading to Charlotte on a three-year, $54MM deal that comes with $30MM guaranteed, NFL.com’s Mike Garafolo tweets. When compared to contracts from last year, Wharton’s deal would rank in the top 14 for what defensive tackles made annually.
Wharton signed with the Chiefs as an undrafted free agent in 2020 out of Missouri S&T and immediately found his way into the defensive line rotation as a rookie. Over three years with the team, he started just two games, but he got consistent snap shares in every game until tearing his ACL in 2022 after just five games. When his three-year, undrafted deal ran out, Kansas City signed him back on a one-year deal, despite the recent injury. He returned to his normal production and earned another one-year deal that he played on this year.
In 2024, Wharton surpassed Derrick Nnadi on the depth chart, earning multiple starts in a single season for the first time in his career. With 10 starts in 17 game appearances, Wharton’s production had an uptick, resulting in career highs in sacks (6.5), tackles for loss (7), and quarterback hits (11). Of 118 players graded at the position, Pro Football Focus graded Wharton at 49th. While his run defense left something to be desired, his pass rushing grade ranked 22nd for interior defenders in the league.
Along with the two Browns on the interior, Wharton will attempt to improve a Panthers defense that finished 32nd in the league in rushing yards allowed and 31st in the league in rushing touchdowns allowed. He’ll also utilize his superior pass rush abilities to improve on a defense whose 32 sacks ranked 29th in the NFL last season.
Ely Allen contributed to this post.
That strikes me as way too much money to bet that he isn’t largely a product of Chris Jones and Spags.
Well he’s playing next to Derrick Brown a similar player to Chris Jones. So this signing seems to think he can be as productive playing next to Brown as he was next to jones. But they also signed former Vikings pass rusher Patrick Jones and Rams DT Bobby Brown
So a front 4 or Wharton, Derrick, Bobby, and Jones is definitely an improve for the panthers