Panthers sign Brown to four-year deal

Darin Gantt

CHARLOTTE -- It seems like the Panthers enjoy pushing their rookie contract talks to the last minute, but there's no reason to believe that will be the case this year.

Saturday, the Panthers agreed to terms on a four-year deal with second-round pick Everette Brown, giving them a week to finish deals for second-round cornerback Sherrod Martin and third-round defensive tackle Corvey Irvin.

Brown, the 43rd overall pick, will make more than $4.2 million over the course of the deal, with $2.685 million guaranteed, including a $1.54 million signing bonus.

General manager Marty Hurney said Saturday they didn't comment on pending deals or negotiations, but admitted “I think we'll be fine,” in terms of getting the three picks into camp on time.

“We appreciate working with Marty and (salary cap specialist) Rob (Rogers) as they were more than fair and both sides got a good deal here,” Brown's agent Joe Linta said Saturday. “Everette is really excited about getting to work for coach Fox.”

Brown could add an immediate boost to the Panthers' pass rush, which brought back Julius Peppers for another year to go with the developing Charles Johnson. Brown had 13.5 sacks and 21.5 tackles for loss last year at Florida State, prompting him to leave school a year early.

The Panthers haven't announced who they'll cut to make room for Brown on the roster. They'll need to purge three names when they get all the picks signed. From the sounds of things, they're particularly close with Irvin, and enough deals are filling in around Martin to make his easy enough with a week to go.

Last year, first-rounders Jeff Otah and Jonathan Stewart were inked in the last 14 hours before the start of practice. In fact, Stewart thought his deal was finished the night before and headed to Spartanburg, but a late snag forced him to stay at a nearby Motel 6 instead of the team dorm the night before his first practice.

Second year offensive lineman Mackenzy Bernardeau is competing for a bigger role with the Panthers this year, but he has already experienced his first victory of the month.

Last weekend, Bernardeau defended his title in the Overtime Sports/DeFranco's Training “World's Strongest Athlete” competition.

Last year's seventh-round pick won a giant sword for winning last July's event, and added to his arsenal with a huge battle axe trophy this time.

Bernardeau was pushed by Houston first-rounder Brian Cushing this year, and ultimately needed to beat him in a tiebreaker to take the title. To settle things, they had a 20-yard race pushing the “prowler,” a sled loaded with 230 pounds of weights. The 300-plus-pound Bernardeau sprinted past the 243-pound Cushing to seal the win.

Finishing third in the event was Panthers tight end Kevin Brock, an undrafted rookie from Rutgers who looked good in camp.

Bernardeau said during summer school that the strongman training helps keep him motivated when he's not participating in the Panthers offseason program. At DeFranco's New Jersey gym, athletes work out by flipping giant tractor tires and pulling trucks with a rope instead of pushing weights around.

“It's a whole range of body motion,” Bernardeau said of the methods.

“My trainer always says your body adjusts to anything. You can push weight on a bench for so long, but if you change it up, you can shock your body, shock your muscles. It showed results, I got a lot stronger, and it showed in camp, so I'm going to go back.”

Since teams can't open camp more than 15 days before their preseason opener, the Panthers won't report to training camp at Wofford College until next Sunday. Their first preseason game is Aug. 17, a Monday night opener that makes them the last ones to open. That throws them a few days behind their division rivals since New Orleans reports Thursday and Atlanta and Tampa Bay on Friday.

While coaches would ordinarily gripe about any lost time practicing, the reality is that camps have become scaled back in recent years, as teams worry more about protecting players from injury than getting them into shape. They've typically reported on a Friday and started practice on Saturday, so beginning practice on Monday only costs them two days.

Hurney was typically unfazed by last week's news that the draft has spread to three days, with the first three rounds conducted in prime time on Thursday and Friday (April 22 and 23). The final four rounds will be held Saturday, April 24.

It won't matter much to the Panthers, since they have already traded next year's first to San Francisco so they could take Brown in this year's second round.

“Our approach is that when it's your turn, you have to pick,” Hurney said. “They'll tell us when it is, and we'll do it. If it's 3 in the morning, we'll pick then.” ...

The true definition of a scramble was last week in Baltimore, when the Ravens went dumpster diving for a receiver in the wake of Derrick Mason's announced retirement. They ultimately signed Drew Bennett, but not before also working out former Panthers D.J. Hackett and Chris Hannon. Hackett has made quite a tour of camps this summer (also trying out for Washington and Tampa Bay), but remains unemployed. Given his unspectacular results last season, he may stay that way until injuries start to pile up.