Graham Gano Agrees to 4-Year Contract with Panthers; Won't Be Franchise-Tagged

Carolina Panthers kicker Graham Gano has avoided the franchise tag after agreeing to a four-year extension with the team on Tuesday. 

The team announced the move on Twitter:

 Per NFL Network's Ian Rapoport and Mike Garafolo, the four-year deal is worth $17 million, with $9 million guaranteed.

Gano has played the last six seasons with Carolina after the spending the first three years of his career with the Washington Redskins.

After the veteran kickers had one of his toughest years as a pro in 2016, converting just 30 of his 38 field-goal attempts and 31 of 34 extra points, the Panthers took Georgia Tech kicker Harrison Butker in the seventh round of the 2017 draft. 

Gano responded by winning the kicking job and was named to his first Pro Bowl last season, missing just one field goal during the regular season. He also converted a league-best 84.3 percent of kickoffs into touchbacks.

That bounce-back season had Carolina wanting to hold on to the 30-year-old kicker.

Rather than slap the franchise tag—which would have been around $4.8 million—on Gano, the two sides were able to beat the deadline and come to an agreement on a long-term deal.