Cornerback Nahshon Wright’s play with the Bears during the 2025 season landed him a contract with the Jets and it earned him the most performance-based pay in the league for last year as well.
The NFL announced that Wright earned more than $1.44 million in performance-based pay. The bonus more than doubles Wright’s base salary for the season.
Wright signed with the Bears after being released by the Vikings last April. He was named to the Pro Bowl after recording 80 tackles, five interceptions, two forced fumbles and three fumble recoveries during the regular season.
The performance-based pay fund is part of the league’s Collective Bargaining Agreement to compensate all players based on a formula encompassing their playing time and salary. It paid out more than $542 million for the 2025 season.
Browns safety Ronnie Hickman earned over $1.293 million for second place and tackle Elijah Wilkinson earned over $1.272 million for his work with the Falcons. Wilkinson has since signed with the Cardinals.
Panthers safety Nick Scott, former Commanders guard Chris Paul, Ravens guard Andrew Vorhees, Vikings defensive end Jalen Redmond, Steelers guard Mason McCormick, Chiefs defensive back Chamarri Conner, and Patriots safety Craig Woodson make up the rest of the top 10 recipients of performance-based pay for 2025.
The Panthers signed edge rusher Jaelan Phillips to a four-year, $120 million contract as a free agent last week with the hope that the potential he’s shown through five NFL seasons helps him blossom into one of the league’s top pass rushers.
Phillips’s growth as a player was hampered by the torn Achilles and torn ACL he suffered in back-to-back seasons while playing for the Dolphins, but Phillips showed that he can get to the quarterback upon his return to action in 2025. Phillips ranked 12th in the league with 35 pressures while splitting the season between Miami and Philadelphia, which is right in line with where he was while fully healthy during the 2022 season.
Those pressures only resulted in five sacks, which Phillips knows is not a full measure of how he was able to affect opposing quarterbacks but it’s still a number he’d like to see grow now that he’s settling into a new home.
“The one thing I know about myself is I’m going to get after the quarterback,” Phillips said, via the team’s website. “I’m going to affect him. I’m going to get my hand in his face. I’m going to take the tackle back into him. I think for me, I’m excited about expanding my game and really getting that finishing aspect and turning a lot of the disruption into production.”
If Phillips is able to make that happen, he’ll be a contender for personal accolades and the Panthers defense will be a thornier unit for opponents to deal with as long as he’s in their uniform.
The Panthers are re-signing starting safety Nick Scott, Joe Person of TheAthletic.com reports.
Scott, who turns 31 in May, will sign a one-year deal worth up to $3.25 million.
He has spent the past two seasons with the Panthers after four seasons with the Rams and one with the Bengals.
In 2025, Scott started all 17 games and played 98 percent of the defensive snaps. He totaled a career-high 111 tackles with one interception, three pass breakups and a fumble recovery.
Scott entered the NFL as a seventh-round pick of the Rams in 2019.
He has recorded 355 tackles, five interceptions, 14 passes defensed, two forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries.
The Panthers have added an offensive tackle.
Carolina has agreed to terms with Rasheed Walker on a one-year deal, per a report from NFL Media.
Walker, 26, was a seventh-round pick in the 2022 draft and just completed his rookie contract with the Packers.
He was No. 14 on PFT’s list of the top 100 free agents of 2026.
The Panthers had a need at left tackle after Ikem Ekwonu suffered a torn patellar tendon during the club’s postseason loss to the Rams in January. Walker can now slot in at that spot as Ekwonu heals.
Walker has started at least 15 games in each of the last three seasons. In 2025, he was on the field for 94 percent of Green Bay’s offensive snaps and 18 percent of special teams snaps.
The Panthers announced a deal to bring back one of their own free agents on Friday.
Linebacker Claudin Cherelus has agreed to terms on a new contract with the team. The Panthers did not announce the terms of the pact.
Cherelus joined Carolina as a waiver claim in 2023 and he has appeared in 33 regular season games with the team. Most of his snaps have come on special teams, but he did see action on 385 defensive snaps over the last two seasons.
Cherelus has 60 tackles and a pass defensed over his entire time with the Panthers. He also started their playoff loss to the Rams and had nine tackles in the contest.
