Turf Show Times
Austin Corbett helped the Rams win the Super Bowl, but has had a tumultuous career since leaving L.A. for Carolina in 2022 free agency. Although Corbett has missed most of the last two seasons with an injury and had to compete for his job, Panthers head coach Dave Canales officially named him Carolina’s starting center to open the 2025 season. It’s good news for a former Rams player who probably would have been a player worth visiting for a reunion if Carolina didn’t want him.
The Rams got Corbett on the cheap when the Browns opted to trade him just one year after making him the 33rd overall pick in the draft. Miscast in Cleveland, L.A. almost immediately inserted Corbett into the starting lineup at left guard and then moved him to the right side in 2020. Corbett started 40 games for the Rams in three seasons, culminating in a Super Bowl win as the team’s right guard in 2021.
As the Rams were throwing raises at Aaron Donald and Cooper Kupp despite already being signed long-term, and adding receiver Allen Robinson as a free agent with an extensive injury history, Corbett walked in free agency on a three-year, $26.25 million contract with the Carolina Panthers. The Rams had major struggles on the offensive line in 2022, the worst line in the league thanks to injuries, but nowhere were the problems worse than at right guard. A.J. Jackson had the most starts at right guard with just six of them in total.
That year, Corbett started all 17 games for the Panthers at right guard.
But the problems started in 2023, opening the season on PUP and then landing on IR with a knee injury. Corbett was moved to center in 2024 after the team signed both Damien Lewis and Robert Hunt in free agency, but a torn biceps cost him all but five games. Corbett has only played in 9 games since 2023. Still, the Panthers re-signed Corbett as a free agent in 2025 and asked him to compete with Cade Mays, the center who replaced him last year.
After two weeks and more of training camp, Corbett has finally regained that role as the starting center.
Meanwhile, the Rams are going with a different reunion at center after bringing back Coleman Shelton in the offseason. Shelton helped fill the void as a starter in 2022 and 2023, but ironically the Rams did a bit of a “swap” by trading Jonah Jackson to the Bears and bringing back Shelton after he was Chicago’s starting center in 2024.
Would Shelton or Corbett be L.A.’s best option as the center this season? First, Corbett needs to stay on the field. Second, we will have to see how each of them performs after training camp.
