Cut Panthers player Stephen Weatherly said he got a bit complacent after signing contract
Last offseason, the Carolina Panthers signed defensive end Stephen Weatherly to a two-year, $12.5 million deal.
But less than one year later, the Panthers parted ways with Weatherly, saving $5.9 million in cap space, while taking on $2 million in dead cap.
Soon after he was released, the Minnesota Vikings re-signed him to a one-year deal. He spent the first four years of his career in Minnesota after the team selected him in the seventh round of the 2016 NFL draft.
Monday afternoon, Weatherly spoke to the Vikings media about his experience in Carolina and shared that he felt some “complacency” after signing his deal last offseason.
“One of the things I definitely learned about myself this past year was that I don’t need to be so safe, that I need to continue reaching and striving forward. I think I’ll openly admit that my time in Carolina, I was kind of happy about the deal that I had signed and a little bit of complacency set in and that can’t happen,” Weatherly said. “No matter what I need to be striving and reaching for the next step, and if I do slip or if I do fail, I fail because I was reaching for greatness, not it was snatched away from me, like holding on to something so tight.
“That’s definitely something I learned being out and coming back. It’s definitely one more thing that I’m bringing back, that fight, that grind, that never let complacency set in again, especially when it comes to something like this, like football.”
The Carolina-Weatherly deal didn’t pan out as well as hoped for either side. His only Panthers season finished early with a finger surgery that landed him on injured reserve and caused him to miss the final seven games of the year.
In the nine games he started, Weatherly, 26, had 17 tackles, one tackle for loss, three quarterback hits and zero sacks. He had three sacks in each of his two previous seasons with the Vikings.
“It took me awhile to get into a groove (in Carolina), to really learn how I was going to play, how I was going to fit into that defense, and by the time I did learn how I was going to fit in, I ended up having that season-ending finger surgery,” Weatherly said Monday. “Very unfortunate, it wasn’t the season I wanted, personally.”
During his press conference, Weatherly listed improving his pass rush skills as among the things he picked up in Carolina, and also learning about how anyone can speak up or share their viewpoints. He also shared that he joined a virtual chess club during his time in Charlotte. The defensive end was a part of the Panthers’ Player Impact Committee and an NFLPA representive.
This story was originally published March 8, 2021 at 3:39 PM.
