Panthers LB Shaq Thompson feared to miss rest of season

It is not yet a lock Thompson is done for the year, with NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero reporting the veteran defender sustained a fibula fracture that will require more tests to determine if he has a chance of coming back this season. 

Thompson, 29, is the Panthers’ longest-tenured defender and the only starter remaining from the team’s Super Bowl 50 appearance. He has been with the Panthers since 2015, when the team selected him in the first round.

Thompson has made 107 starts for the Panthers — third-most by a linebacker in team history, behind only Thomas Davis and Luke Kuechly. This trio was in place from 2015-18, but Davis finished his career elsewhere and Kuechly retired after the 2019 season. 

While the Panthers have made a number of changes on defense as they transitioned from Ron Rivera to Matt Rhule to Reich as HC, Thompson has persisted.

This offseason, the Panthers effectively gave Thompson a pay cut. Thompson had signed a four-year, $54.43M extension in December 2019. Two years remained on that deal. Rather than head into what became a modest market for off-ball linebackers not named Tremaine Edmunds this offseason, Thompson opted to stay on a revised deal. 

The Panthers gave Thompson additional guarantees in exchange for the cut; he is now tied to a two-year $12.6M agreement. Thompson received $8.5M guaranteed on this adjusted accord.

Carolina has moved on from a few of its linebackers in recent years, trading Denzel Perryman and then moving on from other Rhule-era pickups (Jermaine Carter, Cory Littleton, Damien Wilson). 

Hybrid player Frankie Luvu operates as a key off-ball presence for Carolina, which used offseason pickup Kamu Grugier-Hill in place of Thompson Monday. That arrangement may be likely to continue for the foreseeable future, barring a surprise diagnosis or the Panthers making a move at linebacker.