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CAROLINA PANTHERS
Chicago Bears

Panthers reward Greg Olsen with three-year extension

Jim Corbett
USA TODAY Sports
Greg Olsen made his first Pro Bowl this past season with 84 catches for 1,008 yards and six TDs.

Carolina Panthers tight end Greg Olsen's record-setting first Pro Bowl season was rewarded with Thursday's three-year, $22.5-million extension. The deal will keep the 29-year-old playmaker in Charlotte through the 2018 season after Olsen set a new club mark for tight ends with his 84-reception, 1,008-receiving yard performance.

Agent Drew Rosenhaus told USA TODAY Sports that Olsen's $22.5-million deal includes a $12 million signing bonus.

Olsen led the team in receptions with six touchdowns and has posted 104 or more targets with 17 total touchdowns during his last three seasons in Carolina since arriving in a 2011 summer trade with the Chicago Bears.

"It's really a dream come true," Olsen said. "Since we've come to Charlotte, we very quickly realized that this is home.

"This community quickly embraced our family. So we put down roots here. We love it here.

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"This is home for us.

"Now to have this contract that guarantees that I'll play the rest of my career in Charlotte is a tremendous blessing. We're just so thankful for the team believing in me and wanting me to still be a part of this.

"As a team, we have a lot of special times ahead of us."

Since entering the NFL, Olsen ranks among the top 10 players at his position in receptions (fourth, 465), receiving yards (fifth, 5,188) and receiving touchdowns (seventh, 42).

He has played in 126 consecutive regular-season games, the second-longest streak among active tight ends behind Dallas' Jason Witten at 187.

Olsen was voted Carolina's Ed Block Courage award winner for his charity efforts on behalf of his HEARTest Yard endeavor benefiting Levine's Children's Hospital, where his tough-guy inspiration is two-year-old son T.J., who has successfully battled hypoplastic left heart syndrome.

Follow Jim Corbett on Twitter @ByJimCorbett.

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