Panthers, OL Robert Hunt agree to five-year, $100M contract

The Carolina Panthers started their offensive overhaul by throwing around major money to fix their line.

The Panthers have agreed to terms with ex-Dolphins offensive guard Robert Hunt on a five-year, $100 million deal, NFL Network Insiders Ian Rapoport and Mike Garafolo reported on Monday.

NFL Network Insider Tom Pelissero reported the first two years of the deal are worth $44 million and are full guaranteed.

Carolina wasn’t done bolstering its interior line, as it’s expected to sign former Seattle Seahawks guard Damien Lewis to a four-year, $53 million deal with $26.2 million guaranteed, Rapoport reported.

Hunt, 27, was a second-round pick (39th overall) by Miami in the 2020 NFL Draft. He played mostly right tackle as a rookie in 2020 but settled in as one of the best right guards in football the past few seasons. He’s started 55 games the past four seasons combined.

The 6-foot-6, 330-pound is regarded as strong in both run blocking and pass protection and was ranked as the No. 27 overall free agent on the Top 101 list from NFL.com’s Gregg Rosenthal.

NFL.com’s Bucky Brooks pegged Hunt as one of 10 players he earmarked to hit it big in free agency – and the money Hunt received backs up Brooks’ words. Brooks wrote that Hunt was “arguably the most nimble of the dancing bears, keying the Dolphins’ emergence as an offensive juggernaut” as an “athletic interior blocker in a movement-based scheme at the point of attack.”

The Panthers struggled with blocking most of the 2023 season, limiting rookie quarterback Bryce Young‘s effectiveness during a trying rookie campaign. Carolina averaged 4.1 yards per rush, which ranked 23rd-best in the league, and allowed a sack rate of 11.4 percent, which was the third-worst rate in the NFL.

At an average of $20 million per year, Hunt’s deal places him right near the top of the NFL’s offensive guard market — tied with the Colts’ Quenton Nelson and just below the Falcons’ Chris Lindstrom, who averages $20.5 million per year on his deal.