CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — The Carolina Panthers and wide receiver Jalen Coker agreed to terms Thursday night on a three-year, $35 million contract extension that will keep him with the team through 2019, according to a person familiar with the situation.
Panthers coach Dave Canales declared late last season that Coker, signed as an undrafted free agent out of Holy Cross in 2024, would be the team’s starting wide receiver moving forward. Canales and the Panthers reaffirmed their commitment to him with the deal.
The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the deal had not been announced.
It’s rare when teams extend exclusive rights free agents, but the Panthers were convinced Coker is a valuable part of their future. He had 43 catches for 394 yards and three touchdowns last season after missing the first month of the season with an injury. He came on strong toward the end of the year and eventually replaced Xavier Legette, Carolina's first-round pick in 2024, in the starting lineup alongside Tetairoa McMillan, last year’s AP Offensive Rookie of the Year.
Coker had a breakout performance in Carolina’s NFC wild-card playoff loss to the Los Angeles Rams with nine catches for 124 yards and a touchdown.
Coker didn't receive much attention from top level Division I college programs coming out of high school and settled on attending Holy Cross. He promised his mother he would not transfer and would stick it out there and get his degree. He played four years at Holy Cross and caught 163 passes for 2,684 yards and a school-record 31 touchdowns.
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FILE - Carolina Panthers wide receiver Jalen Coker (18) runs onto the field during an NFL wild-card playoff football game between the Carolina Panthers and the Los Angeles Rams on Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, in Charlotte, N.C. (AP Photo/Jacob Kupferman,File)
FILE - Carolina Panthers wide receiver Jalen Coker catches a pass during the team's NFL football practice in Charlotte, N.C., June 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Nell Redmond, File)
BERLIN (AP) — The humpback whale that kept Germany spellbound for months likely lived for roughly five days after the final controversial rescue attempt failed to guide it back to its natural habitat in the Atlantic Ocean, officials said Friday.
The whale, nicknamed “Timmy” and “Hope” by German media, was found dead on May 14, stranded just off the small island of Anholt in the Kattegat, the broad strait between Denmark and Sweden that connects the Baltic Sea to the North Sea.
The discovery of the body ended months of a spectacular and contentious rescue effort that culminated May 2, when the mammal was transported toward the North Sea in a barge in the final rescue attempt. Scientists, government officials, the public and a private initiative sparred over whether it was more humane to let the weakened and sick animal die on its own or continue the rescue efforts.
Data from a tracking transmitter attached to its dorsal fin shows that the whale’s death likely occurred on May 6 or 7, according to Till Backhaus, the environment minister for the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.
It had swum roughly 215 kilometers (134 miles) over the five days and was heading back toward the Baltic Sea, which is the wrong direction for it to reach the Atlantic Ocean.
The data shows that the whale likely drifted aimlessly after that — or the transmitter's signal was lost, Backhaus said Friday during a news conference.
Timmy was first spotted off the German coast on March 3, prompting a media frenzy that included push alerts and updated live blogs with the status of its health.
It’s not clear why it swam into the Baltic Sea, which it wasn’t suited to, although some experts said it may have lost its way while swimming after a shoal of herring or during migration.
An autopsy of the carcass has not yet determined the cause of death, Backhaus said, though officials were able to figure out that “Timmy” was a female whale, after months of assumptions that it was male.
The minister said no serious injuries were discovered during the autopsy, as well as no indication of violence or any items that would have caused its death.
“Did it have any nets or other foreign objects on its body, in its mouth or on its body?” Backhaus said. "Nothing was found.”
Some of the remains will be turned into biodiesel in Denmark, according to German news agency dpa. Some of the bones will go to a Danish museum.
Till Backhaus (SPD), Minister of Agriculture, Environment, and Climate Protection for Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, answers questions from media representatives at a press conference to present the tracking data from the humpback whale, in Schwerin, Germany, Friday, June 12, 2026. (Jens Buettner/dpa via AP)
Till Backhaus (SPD), Minister of Agriculture, Environment, and Climate Protection for Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, answers questions from media representatives at a press conference to present the tracking data from the humpback whale, in Schwerin, Germany, Friday, June 12, 2026. (Jens Buettner/dpa via AP)
FILE - The humpback whale recovered from a shallow bay off Wismar is being transported towards the North Sea in a flooded cargo ship just before the Danish border in Fehmarn, Germany, April 29, 2026. (Philip Dulian/dpa via AP, File)
FILE - The humpback whale lays in a washed-out tub off the island of Poel, Germany, April 22, 2026. (Philip Dulian/dpa via AP, File)
