Unlike Bobby Wagner, you’re not going to catch Luke Kuechly subtweeting his team during a contract negotiation.
Or tweeting much of anything, really. Or worrying about his contract at all.
Panthers linebacker Luke Kuechly appears to be next in line for a big deal, and the chance of it happening before the season are 50-50, according to Jonathan Jones of the Charlotte Observer.
“If it doesn’t happen before the season then we’ll play the season and see what happens,” Kuechly said Wednesday. “I’m not too concerned about it. Like I’ve said a couple of times it gets done when it gets done.
“I get to go out and play football and whatever happens, happens, and we’ll see.”
With Wagner, Lavonte David and DeAndre Levy reaching big deals in the last few weeks, the stage is set for Kuechly to set the new bar for linebacker contracts. The two-time All-Pro still has the fifth-year option on his rookie deal covering him for 2016 at $11 million, but the Panthers are expected to try to lock him up well before that happens.
That’s why coach Ron Rivera wasn’t bashful about praising Kuechly and Wagner.
“I think right now the two best young guys are him and Wagner,” Rivera said after practice. “I think those two guys are the future of the linebackers in the league. Those are the prototypical middle linebackers and both are very smart football players and they help to make their teams better.”
And one of them is already rich, with the other possibly joining him in that neighborhood soon.
