The ickey ekwonu question...

[SOJA]

on the athletic football podcast they said this injury has a 50% RETIREMENT rate 

in other words we are probably screwed. 

I don't know if he ever plays tackle again. Maybe he kicks inside to guard in 2027

Either way this severely fugs us because I really wanted to take either LB or EDGE in round 1 of the draft but now we almost have to take a tackle if one is there 

[SOJA]

On 1/12/2026 at 11:11 AM, Shotgun said:

We need to be prepared for him not to return at all. Hoping for the best but that's a serious injury.

exactly, people are being way too casual about this injury. but this is also the board that thought he could play the day after having an appendectomy 

[mrcompletely11]

Just now, SOJA said:

on the athletic football podcast they said this injury has a 50% RETIREMENT rate 

in other words we are probably screwed. 

I don't know if he ever plays tackle again. Maybe he kicks inside to guard in 2027

Either way this severely fugs us because I really wanted to take either LB or EDGE in round 1 of the draft but now we almost have to take a tackle if one is there 

Its something like 30% that make it back to their top PFF rating, and thats everyone included.  Cant help but think 330 lb guys have a rougher go at it

[SOJA]

On 1/12/2026 at 12:27 PM, Captroop said:

For all intents and purposes he's done. He's at best a "maybe" to ever play a snap of football again for us or anyone else.

LT now has to be our top priority in the offseason.

There go my dreams of a 1st round MLB.

exactly my thoughts to a t

[strato]

Good for us very bad for Icky, the big extension has not been done. We can spend most of that on whatever.
 

Another LOT, a C, a ILB, Edge, something.  
 

He is a good teammate, a good guy, good to have on the team. Pretty good LOT. Hate it for him 

Edited 19 hours ago by strato

[Jay Roosevelt]

The more I read about this injury the more it seems like our best bet is to move on from Ickey and look for another LT. I hate it for the guy because he's really started to come along but we can't risk sinking top LT money into a guy coming off a potentially career-threatening injury.

[LinvilleGorge]

22 minutes ago, Jay Roosevelt said:

The more I read about this injury the more it seems like our best bet is to move on from Ickey and look for another LT. I hate it for the guy because he's really started to come along but we can't risk sinking top LT money into a guy coming off a potentially career-threatening injury.

I don't think you move on from Icky, but I do think you have to move forward cautiously and make plans for him not recovering from this. He's under contract next year and will hopefully be able to return for at least some of next season for us to get a look at him on the field in live action. With his serious injury question mark and Moton's age and whispers about his potential degenerative knee conditions, the potential for an early OT pick is definitely there. Honestly, I'd say it's expected. I'll be a little surprised if we don't draft an OT with one of our first three picks I just hope we don't force it.

[frankw]

17 hours ago, SOJA said:

on the athletic football podcast they said this injury has a 50% RETIREMENT rate 

in other words we are probably screwed. 

I don't know if he ever plays tackle again. Maybe he kicks inside to guard in 2027

Either way this severely fugs us because I really wanted to take either LB or EDGE in round 1 of the draft but now we almost have to take a tackle if one is there 

Shīt happens.

Extent Yoshi and draft another tackle.

We can't make panic moves over it when we already have the highest amount of salary cap in the league dedicated to the OL.

We need more pieces on defense bad.

Bryce Young is about to get the 5th year option. He's going to have to begin getting used to us having to make sacrifices.

[LinvilleGorge]

The one good thing is that our OL coach did a great job this year of handling a lot of injury issues and still fielding a unit that was able to perform at a decent level.

[strato]

25 minutes ago, frankw said:

Shīt happens.

Extent Yoshi and draft another tackle.

We can't make panic moves over it when we already have the highest amount of salary cap in the league dedicated to the OL.

We need more pieces on defense bad.

Bryce Young is about to get the 5th year option. He's going to have to begin getting used to us having to make sacrifices.

The big money for Icky has to be reclaimed and reallocated. I guess he’ll get his big 5th year option payday which will set him up for life, just the one year. 
Without looking I am guessing we aren’t that far off from being able to replace the big money guards.
We can get out from under Moton if he doesn’t shine in 2026, but it will cost. Basically we can save half of that money in 2027.  

We can see on Icky, we have until March 2027 to assess that. 
 

I think this is bad timing for what we might have wanted to do this offseason for the defense but it may not be that bleak going forward, we have room to adjust. 

Edited 2 hours ago by strato

[PantherChris]

Ickey has probably played his last game as a panther, quite possibly period.

[kungfoodude]

1 hour ago, LinvilleGorge said:

I don't think you move on from Icky, but I do think you have to move forward cautiously and make plans for him not recovering from this. He's under contract next year and will hopefully be able to return for at least some of next season for us to get a look at him on the field in live action. With his serious injury question mark and Moton's age and whispers about his potential degenerative knee conditions, the potential for an early OT pick is definitely there. Honestly, I'd say it's expected. I'll be a little surprised if we don't draft an OT with one of our first three picks I just hope we don't force it.

You also have the option to punt and tag him the next season if he doesn't get any field time.

For some context, Rashawn Slater also suffered a patellar tendon tear prior to the 2025 season. So we might get an advanced look at that recovery to an extent.

I do think an OT SHOULD have been in the early draft plans even prior to Ikey's injury. Moton's situation alone should have made that a priority.

[PantherChris]

2 hours ago, LinvilleGorge said:

I don't think you move on from Icky, but I do think you have to move forward cautiously and make plans for him not recovering from this. He's under contract next year and will hopefully be able to return for at least some of next season for us to get a look at him on the field in live action. With his serious injury question mark and Moton's age and whispers about his potential degenerative knee conditions, the potential for an early OT pick is definitely there. Honestly, I'd say it's expected. I'll be a little surprised if we don't draft an OT with one of our first three picks I just hope we don't force it.

Realistically he's probably not still going to be under contract when hes good to go again? Unfortunately for him you cant sign him for more than a small one year deal until he can prove hes still a good player... that might not happen.  I think hes played his last down as a panther.

Edited 35 minutes ago by PantherChris

[mrcompletely11]

40 minutes ago, PantherChris said:

Ickey has probably played his last game as a panther, quite possibly period.

The timing sure feels like it if the injury is really serious