Mike Tolbert did something in the Super Bowl he hadn’t done with the Panthers — lost a fumble.
And he hopes he gets a chance to make up for it.
The veteran fullback, who is about to become an unrestricted free agent, said he wanted a chance to return to the Panthers next season.
“Do I want to be? Yeah. Do they want me is the question,” Tolbert said, via Joe Person of the Charlotte Observer. “I can’t sign a contract by myself. It remains to be seen.”
Tolbert has done plenty of good things for the Panthers since arriving in 2012. And he had always taken good care of the ball, with his last fumble in 2011 when he was with the Chargers. But he bobbled it twice in the Super Bowl, recovering one of them.
The 30-year-old Tolbert said he thinks he still has four or five seasons left “at a high All-Pro level.”
And while his are the kind of contributions that are hard to quantify, he’s been a big part of the Panthers offense since arriving. He can run in short yardage, block, and is a good receiver out of the backfield in addition to playing special teams. He’s made two Pro Bowls in his four seasons with the Panthers, and had four touchdowns this year.