Panthers agree to terms with TE Tommy Tremble on multi-year deal before free agency
At the NFL Scouting Combine last month, Panthers general manager Dan Morgan wasn’t shy about his desire to bring back tight end Tommy Tremble. And it didn’t take long for the executive to get a deal done.
The Panthers agreed to a two-year, $10.5 million deal with Tremble on Saturday, league sources told The Observer. According to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, the deal is worth up to $16 million with incentives and has $8 million in guaranteed money.
Morgan said last month that he expected the 24-year-old tight end to test the free-agent market. Instead, he will be back with the Panthers through the 2026 season.
Tremble didn’t have the 2024 season that many predicted. Much of that occurred, however, because he dealt with hamstring and back injuries through the summer and fall and wasn’t consistently in the lineup until the second half of the season.
The positive? His second half of the season was one to remember. After Week 11, he notched 14 receptions for 162 yards and two touchdowns — including the end of one of the more electric touchdowns of the season in Week 17, when quarterback Bryce Young did his Steph Curry, look-away-before-it-goes-in celebration.
That production propelled him to a career-high 234 receiving yards.
He said after the season that he’d love to remain in Carolina.
“I got here, and every year (the organization) kept believing in me, kept helping me build myself back up, and I think that’s the most fun (part),” Tremble said the day after his team’s season finale. “I’m really finding myself out here and I’d love to be back.”
Tremble remains a veteran in a tight end room that has changed a bit the last few years.
Ja’Tavion Sanders was the face of that change. The fourth-round draft pick had a promising rookie season in 2024, even after sustaining a scary neck injury in late November. Sanders holds the Panthers’ franchise record for most receiving yards by a rookie tight end after finishing the season with 342 yards and a touchdown on 33 receptions.
Veteran Ian Thomas and special teams ace Feleipe Franks are set to join a free-agent pool that is filled with accomplished-yet-aging tight ends.
Following Saturday’s reported re-signing of Mike Gesicki by the Cincinnati Bengals, the position group is mostly filled with role-playing contributors and players in the twilight of their careers. Recently released former Jacksonville Jaguars tight end Evan Engram and New Orleans Saints tight end Juwan Johnson — both of whom are known for their receiving ability instead of their blocking — highlight the pool.
While speaking in Indianapolis in February, head coach Dave Canales said he preferred versatile tight ends who can block and catch. Tremble certainly fits that mold, and he will be back to show that two-way play in 2025.
Tremble’s agreement was made roughly two hours after the Panthers agreed to terms on a 1-year contract extension with veteran center Austin Corbett.
This story was originally published March 8, 2025 at 7:09 PM.
