Panthers star Derrick Brown is disappointed in Pro Bowl snub. He’s not alone
It’s not that Derrick Brown couldn’t believe it. He’d been here two years prior: standing in front of his locker, shrugging off confusion and disappointment.
But it still stung, he said.
And many in the building shared that feeling.
On Tuesday morning, the NFL announced the rosters for the Pro Bowl Games, the kind of All-Star distinction that elevates resumes, anchors legacies, validates the work and the talent and the plays made on Sundays. And a few hours later Tuesday, Brown was asked what it felt like knowing that his season — declared by many in and out of the building as “dominant” — didn’t yield a Pro Bowl spot.
He answered with a wry smile.
“I was disappointed, being the competitor I am,” Brown told reporters in front of his locker Tuesday. “I want the opportunity to represent my team in the Pro Bowl. It’s one of those things. I guess my peers and (other) coaches don’t think I’m good enough to be in there. So I’ll take that with a grain of salt and just keep working.”
Does it add any fuel?
“Yeah, I mean, it definitely ignites me,” Brown said. “I’m a competitor, for sure.”
Not the first snub for Derrick Brown
Brown has had a season to date that has not only impressed the Charlotte-area media but national media as well. Weekly instances of throwing offensive linemen around will do that. So will commanding double teams. So will influencing where the ball goes in the run game and putting pressure on the quarterback in the pass game.
Brown has 54 tackles, a forced fumble and five sacks to his name in 2025. He leads NFL defensive linemen in pass deflections on the season with seven. His five sacks on the year lead the Panthers in the category — as an interior defensive lineman, no less — and he’s the only DL with seven passes defended and five sacks in the league. That’s all after coming off a knee injury that forced him to miss all but one game of 2024.
The 2020 first-round pick, who was signed to a lucrative extension ahead of the 2024 season, has been snubbed before. He wasn’t initially voted in as a Pro Bowler in 2023 despite his record-breaking season — though eventually he got in after being an alternate after a few linemen couldn’t make the event.
This year, however, he won’t have that chance. As The Observer previously reported, there won’t be alternates for offensive and defensive linemen.
It’s all led to some outright confusion among many in Bank of America Stadium. Brown’s confused, too. But he’s extra motivated because of it, he said.
“It’s not going to knock my confidence down any,” Brown said. “They still gotta stop that (expletive) on Sundays, so it is what it is.”
Disappointment about Brown not being on the Pro Bowl roster
Who are the others in the building “disappointed” with the neglection of Brown on the NFC Pro Bowl roster?
Fans, for one. Brown finished third in the fan vote among defensive linemen, according to a release from the NFL earlier this week. Selections were determined by the combined votes of fans, players and coaches — with each group’s vote counting as one-third of the overall tally, according to a release from the NFL.
Another group disappointed? His teammates. Count his closest colleague and veteran defensive lineman A’Shawn Robinson among them.
“It’s just crazy to see that he’s not in there,” Robinson told The Observer on Tuesday. He added, “They snubbed him. Hopefully, when we finish the year out, they’ll put him on All-Pro, like he should be.”
Brown’s head coach, Dave Canales, was equally effusive on Brown’s year.
“What I saw from Derrick this year is dominant football play,” Canales said. “A guy that stands for everything we believe in, and a guy that’s disruptive in every way shape and form: coming up with sacks this year, certainly against the run game.”
“He certainly is recognized by his teammates and by his peers, the people he plays against,” Canales added.
Quick hits
— The Panthers only had one Pro Bowler this year. That was cornerback Jaycee Horn. Horn’s stats speak for themselves — a career-high five interceptions (second-most in NFL), 35 tackles, eight passes defended. One mind-boggling stat the Panthers released Tuesday about the 2021 first-round draft pick: Horn has been targeted on just 12.4% of his coverage snaps as an outside corner, the 10th lowest rate in the league among players with at least 400 coverage snaps outside. (In other words, teams are avoiding throwing his way.)
Canales said he told his star defensive back the Pro Bowl news in a phone call with him and general manager Dan Morgan, and that the honor is well-deserved: “I see how hard he’s working on his body, on his mind, getting himself ready for game day. And it’s all paying off.”
— No new news on the injury front Tuesday. The Panthers completed a walk-through. Offensive lineman Robert Hunt made an appearance on the turf, but Canales indicated that the team will make a decision on opening his 21-day practice window on Wednesday.
— A fun stat to consider: The Seahawks enter Week 17 with the top record in the NFC. The Panthers are 2-0 this season when facing the top team in the conference at the time of the game — the Packers in Week 9 and the Rams in Week 13.
