Getty Former Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Damien Wilson (#54) has signed with a new NFC franchise.
Yesterday on March 17, the Kansas City Chiefs lost fan-favorite wide receiver Byron Pringle to Ryan Poles and the Chicago Bears.
Of course, Pringle wasn’t the first casualty of the 2022 offseason. Tyrann Mathieu is expected to sign elsewhere — although he has yet to do so — and pieces like cornerback Charvarius Ward and backup center Austin Blythe have already skipped town for larger roles.
It’s that time of year where friendly faces can quickly turn into fierce competitors, and a similar blast from the past just earned a new deal with the Carolina Panthers.
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Damien Wilson Receives Raise From Carolina
Linebacker Damien Wilson last played for the Chiefs in 2020 and helped hoist a Lombardi Trophy the year before. He spent the past season with the Jacksonville Jaguars, but is now joining the Panthers on a two-year deal according to NFL Network insider Mike Garafolo.
LB Damien Wilson to the #Panthers on two-year deal, per his agents at @SPORTSTARSNYC. Coming off a 106-tackle, three-sack season with the #Jaguars.
He tweeted: “LB Damien Wilson to the #Panthers on two-year deal, per his agents at @SPORTSTARSNYC. Coming off a 106-tackle, three-sack season with the #Jaguars.”
The solid campaign with the Jags actually earned Wilson a bit of a raise. Per Over the Cap, Carolina has agreed to pay him $6.9 million over the next two years with $3.27 million guaranteed. That comes out to an average annual salary of $3.45 M.
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Remembering Wilson
Turning 29 in May, Wilson is approaching the end of his prime NFL years, although you might say the peak already occurred. No offense to the Panthers or what the linebacker may accomplish from this point on, but it’s hard to top back-to-back title games and a Super Bowl championship.
With KC, the seven-year NFL pro played some of his best football, starting 19 games and accumulating 154 tackles (six for a loss). Wilson also had 1.5 sacks and one forced fumble, with a postseason impact of 33 tackles (two for a loss) in six starts.
Damien Wilson seemed to be the best #Chiefs LB at quickly filling a gap and truly stonewalling a ballcarrier. They need Gay and Bolton to bring that ability in 2021
Wilson had the KC highlight of Super Bowl LV with this 2-play sequence stuffing the Bucs on 3rd and 4th down.
Although they ended up losing the game, Wilson provided a major stand for the Chiefs against Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Super Bowl LV. Arrowhead Pride’s Ron Kopp Jr. provided the clip of the consecutive goal-line stops — one of his better moments as a Chief.
State of Linebacker Room
The Chiefs have totally revamped the linebacker unit around Nick Bolton and Willie Gay Jr. since moving on from players like Wilson.
Veteran Anthony Hitchens was the latest cap casualty in 2022, leaving very little behind the two youngsters. As of now, only Shilique Calhoun and Darius Harris remain on the roster for depth.
General manager Brett Veach doesn’t need to go crazy at linebacker this offseason but he does have to replenish the reserves. Two special teams’ assets won’t move the needle if Bolton or Gay misses time, and don’t forget that the ‘Honey Badger’ is no longer on the field to pick up the slack.
It should be looked at as a minor area of need as we enter phase two of free agency, and then the NFL draft after that in late April.