Panthers signee Jadeveon Clowney wants to reunite with Stephon Gilmore in Carolina

Clowney, for one, had a career year in Baltimore in 2023 — a season that he called his “Kobe year” — in which he notched 9.5 sacks. The NFL veteran also added two forced fumbles and a fumble recovery and added to his prowess as a run-stopper, something this overachieving Panthers defense struggled with at times last year.

The season with the Ravens, Clowney said Friday, was a resurgent year after a difficult ending with the Cleveland Browns mired by injury — playing 12 games with a torn tricep on top of “all the stuff going on with my elbow.” It was also punctuated by a public falling out with the team. In an interview with cleveland.com, Clowney said the he didn’t feel appreciated and that he was “95 percent” sure he wasn’t coming back for a third season. That resulted in Clowney being sent home before the season ended with head coach Kevin Stefanski explaining to reporters, “Nothing comes above the team.”

“I never really got to really respond to that,” Clowney said Friday. “Or say anything about what was said. I just swallowed that and went to work and got back to grinding and working out. And I said, I just need one opportunity to show these people that I can still do this at a high level, and that I’m not the guy (the story) tried to make me out to be. So that’s all I wanted to do that whole offseason, and prove that to people.

“And Baltimore gave me the opportunity to come back and play. And I said, ‘I’m just gonna try to make it a comeback year that everybody will remember.’”

Gilmore’s return would surely excite Panthers fans, too. The team is in need of cornerback depth after the departures of CJ Henderson and Donte Jackson. The Panthers re-signed Troy Hill and picked up Dane Jackson, who general manager Dan Morgan advocated for in Buffalo’s front office years ago, but more could be done at the position.

Acquiring Gilmore, 33, would be tricky and wouldn’t necessarily align with the team’s free-agency strategy of picking up young talent who’ve played under defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero before. (Of course, one key exception to this rule? Jadeveon Clowney.)

Clowney ultimately called playing for the Panthers “a blessing.” After all, this was the team of Julius Peppers, his favorite NFL player growing up that inspired him to switch from running back to defensive end in the city of Rock Hill’s youth leagues. This was the team right down the road from where his mother still lives — where his kids, Jahlil (9) and Jerzie Ane (4) and Jewel Blaise (3), could visit their grandmother’s house with ease.

And now, in the present, it’s a team with potential, Clowney said.

“I think we can turn this thing around and have a good time here,” Clowney said. “And you know, look for something great for this upcoming season. The division was tight last year, regardless of what people think, and there’s no reason the Panthers can’t come out on top for the division this year and make the playoffs.

“And then once you’re in the playoffs, anything can happen.”

That “anything can happen” mantra still applies to free agency. It might, too, extend to Gilmore — the Rock Hill native still on the market.

Notes

— In transational news, the Panthers agreed to terms on a one-year deal to bring back linebacker Tae Davis. Davis was a special teams playmaker for the unit in 2023.

— Some key dates for the Panthers’ offseason program include April 8 (first day); April 23-25 (voluntary minicamp); May 20-21, 23, 28-29, 31 and June 3-4 and 6 (OTA offseason workouts); and June 11-13 (mandatory minicamp).