In March, Panthers General Manager Dave Gettleman said that the team planned to exercise the option on wide receiver Kelvin Benjamin’s 2018 option.
In the interim, Benjamin showed up to the team’s offseason workout program carrying more weight than coach Ron Rivera and the team would like. It’s not the first time that Benjamin has dealt with the issue and some may have wondered if another bout of pudginess would lead the team to rethink picking up his option.
They got their answer on Tuesday. Adam Schefter of ESPN reports that the Panthers have stuck with Gettleman’s original plan.
Benjamin’s salary for 2018 will be over $8.4 million under the terms of the option, although the Panthers can still walk away before the start of the next league year unless Benjamin suffers an injury that would keep him from passing a physical.