Robby Anderson extension shows Panthers faith in upside

The Carolina Panthers have extended Robby Anderson with a lucrative two-year contract that banks on the continued evolution of the wide receiver.

Wins may not have been the currency of the Carolina Panthers last season as the club went just 5-11 in the first year under head coach Matt Rhule. However, it was a campaign designed to lay down building blocks for the future that would allow them to ascend towards success. And it would seem that they found one such piece in wide receiver Robby Anderson.

After spending his first four seasons with the Jets, Carolina signed Anderson to a two-year, $20 million contract in free agency. The wideout delivered with the best season of his career, so the Panthers seemingly decided that the one year remaining on his deal wasn’t enough. Subsequently, they worked it out to keep him longer.

On Tuesday, the Panthers agreed to a two-year, $29.5 million contract with $20 million guaranteed, per NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport. The former undrafted free agent will now be in Carolina until he’s 30 years old. And if it goes to the team’s plan, he’ll be eligible for another big-time deal.

Robby Anderson finally tapped into his potential with the Panthers and now they’re both ready to see more of that.

Prior to his arrival in Carolina, Robby Anderson was a perpetual breakout candidate for the Jets that, frankly, never did so. Blessed with elite speed and often used as a deep threat in New York, Anderson had career-highs of 941 yards and seven touchdowns in 2017 but then dropped below 800 yards the next two years.

Under Rhule and offensive coordinator Joe Brady, however, Anderson’s role changed. While he was still capable of working down the field and taking the top off, they utilized his speed more in the short and intermediate areas of the field to allow him to create after the catch. And the results were tremendous.

While Anderson only had three touchdowns — a volatile stat not wholly indicative of his play — the wideout had a career-high 95 catches on 136 targets with 1,096 yards, the first 1,000-yard season of his five-year stint in the NFL to this point. It’s clear that he can produce, even when he was working with D.J. Moore and Curtis Samuel in the offense.

However, the Panthers paying Anderson $14.75 million per year indicates they believe there is even more in the tank. One of the issues with the offense last year was the lack of deep passing attack with Teddy Bridgewater. While Sam Darnold is unproven, he does have the arm to push the ball down the field and further unlock that part of Anderson’s repertoire. And if he doesn’t, then the quarterback who takes over for Darnold in 2022 should.

All told, the Panthers took a slight gamble on Robby Anderson but it’s already paid off and they’re clearly confident that it will continue to do so and more. The money they’re paying him shows they have faith that there is even more upside in what he can do and that he can be a top target for the passing offense for the foreseeable future no matter what.