Panthers pick up 5th-year option on Brown, not Henderson

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — The Carolina Panthers have picked up the fifth-year option in defensive lineman Derrick Brown’s contract, keeping him with the team through the 2024 season. The deal will pay Brown $11.66 million for the 2024 season. The Panthers didn’t pick up the fifth-year option in cornerback C.J. Henderson’s contract. Brown was the team’s first-round pick in 2020 and will be moving to defensive end in the new 3-4 defensive scheme after recording 67 tackles, batting down seven passes and recording an interception in a breakout season in 2022. Henderson was a first-round draft pick by Jacksonville in 2020 who was acquired in a 2021 trade that sent a third-round pick and tight end Dan Arnold to the Jaguars. Henderson has struggled at times in coverage, but remains under contract for 2023.