Longtime Panthers linebacker Shaq Thompson signs one-year deal with Bills

The Buffalo Bills announced Tuesday morning that they have signed former Carolina Panthers linebacker Shaq Thompson to a one-year contract. Thompson, who played 10 seasons for the Panthers, is reunited in Buffalo with coach Sean McDermott and general manager Brandon Beane, both of whom were with him in Carolina when he was selected in the first round of the 2015 NFL Draft.

Thompson joined a linebacking corps that included Luke Kuechly and Thomas Davis when he arrived in Carolina, as well as longtime NFL starter and another future Buffalo Bill in A.J. Klein. He became a young and promising piece on a defense that helped propel Carolina all the way to Super Bowl 50 at the end of his rookie season. The Panthers never again reached such heights with Thompson on the team — they only made the playoffs one more time in 2017 — but Thompson became a highly respected player and team leader, particularly as he carried the torch at linebacker following the end of Kuechly and Davis’ careers.

Thompson had over 100 combined tackles in four straight seasons from 2019 to 2022, including a career-high 135 in 2022. However, a pair of season-ending injuries brought Thompson’s Panthers career to an unceremonious end, first breaking his fibula in Week 2 of the 2023 season and then tearing his Achilles in Week 4 of 2024. Thompson was released by the Panthers in February.

McDermott couldn’t be happier to have one of his former players back with him in Buffalo.

“When you talk about a player that can play more than one position, a player that can help create or bring a certain toughness with him, a nastiness to a defense, to a team, he’s all about the right stuff as a player and a person,” McDermott told reporters on Tuesday.