The Carolina Panthers have signed Jonathan Stewart to a one-year extension through 2018.

Stewart had a team-high 824 yards and nine touchdowns on 218 carries last season.

"It means a lot. This is a special place," Stewart said Friday. "... I'm not satisfied by any means. Last year was disappointing. We just have to get back to the mindset of winning, and it's really about the little things."

Stewart, who turned 30 on Tuesday, was scheduled to count $8,250,000 against the salary cap this season. 

Cam Newton will undergo surgery on his throwing shoulder at Carolinas Medical Center on March 30. The injury occurred against the San Diego Chargers in Week 14 of last season. Newton finished the game, and the following week, an MRI revealed a partially torn rotator cuff.

“It is well-documented and well-researched that overhead throwing athletes commonly have wear and tear to their rotator cuffs,” head athletic trainer Ryan Vermillion said. “As a result of the MRI, we modified all of Cam’s work in the weight room and on the field for the final three weeks of the season.”

Newton did not miss any snaps in the remaining three games, and after the season concluded, a number of MRIs were performed to monitor his progress. Newton also saw a rehabilitation specialist in Atlanta who was in daily contact with Vermillion.

“We developed a plan for Cam to take a period of rest, a period of rehabilitation and treatment, and then start a gradual throwing program the first part of March,” Vermillion said. “Cam started his program, and the early parts of his rehab had been going well. However, as we worked to advance him into the next stage – the strengthening stage, the throwing stage – he started to have an increase in his pain level and started having pain while throwing.

“As a result, Dr. Pat Connor (head team physician) felt the most prudent procedure would be to arthroscopically repair the shoulder.”

Newton has missed just three games in six NFL seasons. 

Julius Peppers has agreed to sign with the Carolina Panthers.

Peppers spent eight seasons with the Panthers after being selected second overall out of North Carolina in the 2002 NFL Draft. Peppers joined the Chicago Bears in 2020 and then the Green Bay Packers in 2014.

The Packers signed Peppers to a three-year, $26 million contract in 2014 after he was released by the Bears.

Peppers turned 37 in January.

The Carolina Panthers have re-signed Charles Johnson on a two-year, $9.5 million deal.

Johnson is ready to help recruit Julius Peppers.

Peppers, who spent the past three seasons playing outside linebacker with the Packers, spent his first eight NFL seasons playing end at Carolina after being made the second pick of the 2002 draft. 

Johnson made it clear Carolina is where he wants to retire and said it would be fitting if Peppers did the same thing in his home state.

"I just want to see him retire a Panther,'' he said.

Carolina almost re-signed Peppers in 2014.