The deadline for picking up the fifth-year option on 2014 first-round draft picks is Wednesday, and the Panthers have not made an official decision on Kelvin Benjamin. Could this be the wide receiver’s last year in Carolina?
Benjamin has had conditioning issues dating back to his days at Florida State, and Panthers coach Ron Rivera admitted on Saturday that the 26-year-old is “a little heavy” at the moment.
“He is a little heavy. He knows it,” Rivera said, via Joseph Person of the Charlotte Observer. “We’ve talked about it. We talked about what he has to do, and he’s done a great job.”
Rivera went on to admit he is “concerned” about Benjamin’s weight. In a later article, Person said it has become obvious the Panthers are considering declining Benjamin’s option for 2018, which would pay him roughly $8.5 million.
Despite general manager Dave Gettleman saying in March he planned to pick up Benjamin’s fifth-year option for 2018, the Panthers have yet to do so.
With Wednesday’s deadline fast approaching, it’s pretty clear the Panthers are considering declining the option and letting Benjamin play the 2017 season with no assurances and the possibility it could be his last in a Carolina uniform.
At a minimum, Gettleman is making Benjamin sweat out the deadline after showing little discipline at the dinner table over the winter.
Benjamin missed the entire 2015 season after suffering a torn ACL in training camp, and there was photo evidence last year that he was struggling with conditioning during the summer. He still managed to catch 63 passes for 941 yards and seven touchdowns, but he was more inconsistent than the Panthers would like.
If Carolina does pick up Benjamin’s option, the $8.5 million salary is only guaranteed for injury. They could still cut him before the start of the 2018 league year without penalty.
