Ikem

[csx]

29 minutes ago, Dave Gettleman's Shorts said:

That's the current dilemma on both parties at the moment.

If Ickey comes back too soon, he won't be 100% and his play will suffer. Leading to a potential decrease in his contract. If Ickey is unable to play and sits the entire 2026 season, his contract will still take the same hit since it tells all 32 team that he is not fully recovered.

On the Panthers side, I'm sure they would want to keep Ickey if he is fully recovered but he is obviously in a contract year. They don't want to re-sign him to a massive deal since it be too risky and they know if Ickey is able to return to form. 

Best case scenario, the Panthers wants to offer Ickey a 1-2 year heavily incentive based prove it deal. However, Ickey would most likely decline the offer and test the market as  another team can come in and offer Ickey a better deal if they are desperate enough for O-line help.

In that case its in his best interest to fully recover.  We are in a much better situation to judge his condition. It would be more risky for another team to throw money at him.  Taking a reasonable deal from us seems the most likely outcome if he is on track to return.

Edited 1 hour ago by csx