What It Means:

The Panthers would have saved $6.25 million by releasing Stewart this offseason, causing some to believe they would part ways with the nine-year veteran. Instead, he'll be back in Carolina for his age-30 campaign. Stewart averaged a career-low 3.8 yards per carry (minimum 100 attempts) last season, but he compensated that with nine touchdowns, the most since his second year in the league. General manager David Gettleman has already stated that the Panthers will be selecting a running back in the first round of next month's draft. Stewart projects to be little more than a touchdown-dependent RB3 in 2017.

Among the 42 running backs to top 100 carries last season, Stewart's Rushing Net Expected Points (NEP) per carry ranked 29th.