Jonathan Stewart, the leading rusher in franchise history, has signed a one-day contract to retire as a Carolina Panther.
Stewart spent virtually his entire career with the Panthers, save for six carries with the Giants in 2018 before being placed on injured reserve. In 10 seasons with the Panthers, he amassed 7,318 rushing yards and 51 touchdowns on the ground in addition to 162 receptions for 1,295 yards and seven touchdowns.
From 2008-18, his career total of 7,335 yards ranked eighth in the NFL.
Selected by Carolina with the 13th overall pick in the 2008 NFL Draft out of the University of Oregon, Stewart immediately teamed with running back DeAngelo Williams to form "Double Trouble."
After Stewart rushed for 836 yards as a rookie, the bruising back piled up 1,133 rushing yards in 2009 and scored 10 rushing touchdowns for the second consecutive year. Paired with Williams' 1,117 yards, the dynamic duo became the first teammates in NFL history to both top 1,100 rushing yards in the same season. Stewart earned a Pro Bowl nod that year.
After two more seasons of 700-plus yards on the ground, injures grounded Stewart for significant portions of the 2012 and '13 seasons. But in 2014 – the last season that he and Williams played together – Stewart established himself as Carolina's lead back for the final chapters of his standout career. He was the Panthers' top running back in rushing yards each of the next four seasons, passing Williams for the franchise's all-time mark in 2017 during a Week 4 victory at the Patriots.
Stewart was a handful for opposing defenses in postseason play as well, ranking as the franchise all-time leader in playoff rushing yards with 474 and in playoff rushing touchdowns with five. During Carolina's run to Super Bowl in 2015, Stewart set the tone with a 59-yard sprint for a score on the Panthers' first play of the postseason – a divisional round victory over the Seahawks – and he scored the team's lone touchdown in Super Bowl 50.
