Fan favorite speaks on his return to Panthers

Even through facing the biggest detour of his NFL career, Carolina Panthers offensive lineman Brady Christensen has found that continuity is the key.

On Friday morning, the Panthers announced a new one-year deal with Christensenone of their longtime hog mollies.

The 29-year-old had remained a free agent into the summer while recovering from an Achilles tear , and now rejoins the squad right ahead of training camp.

Christensen spoke with Panthers.com about how meaningful his stay in Carolina has been.

"You know, I think it's cliche, but it really does feel like a family here," he stated, via team reporter Darin Gantt.

"And that's hard to do in the NFL because everyone's coming and going and there's a lot of change and a lot of turnover.

"But I came walking back here, and I felt like I was coming back to my family, and I mean that.

And so I'm very grateful, and I think that's the biggest change from maybe the previous years, we're just one big family that we're going to go out there and compete together." The Panthers selected Christensen, an All-American out of Brigham Young University, in the third round of the 2021 NFL Draft.

He's gone on to serve as a jack of all trades in Carolina's trenches, having taken snaps at every position on the offensive line over his five-year career.

That fifth year was cut short in the Panthers' Week 8 loss to the Buffalo Bills last October, where Christensen sustained his Achilles tear.

He was placed on injured reserve the next day, and was staring at quite a bit of uncertainty heading into the offseason.

But ultimately, Christensen worked his way back to a familiar place.

"Yeah, I think it's huge," he said of maintaining personnel in Carolina.

"I mean, you're not ever going to have the same O-line unit, but to have that continuity is huge.

To have some of the mainstays here, still here and leading the room, I think that's going to be huge for the whole team." Follow @ThePanthersWire on Twitter/X for more Panthers content.

This article originally appeared on Panthers Wire: Fan favorite speaks on his return to Panthers.