Charlotte Observer -- Panthers tailback DeAngelo Williams took a break from riding the rides and chatting up fans at ESPN's The Weekend activities at Disney to do a short interview Thursday on ESPN's "SportsCenter."
Williams, wearing a Mad Hatter-type Mickey Mouse lid, talked about the Panthers' decision to place the franchise tag on center Ryan Kalil rather than Williams, the organization's all-time rushing leader.
Kalil quickly signed the $10 million tender, making him the highest-paid center in the league.
"My initial reaction was that's a lot of money Kalil's going to be making. Then I was like, 'We get to keep Kalil,'" Williams said. "I've never not placed myself with the Carolina Panthers because that's the only team I've ever played for. That's the team that drafted me and gave me an opportunity when 26 other teams passed me by. So I'm going to hold loyal to them as long as they hold loyal to me. "But in the event that they don't want to re-sign me, hopefully there's 31 other teams that will give me an opportunity to play for them."
The Panthers placed a restricted free-agent tender on Williams on Wednesday.
Jimmy Sexton, Williams' agent, told the AP the former Memphis star received the highest tender, which would require teams to surrender first- and third-round draft picks to sign him. But many of the 14 tenders placed by the Panthers figure to be moot in a new collective bargaining agreement. With five years of experience, Williams is almost certain to be an unrestricted free agent, assuming a labor deal is reached in time for a free agency period.
Still, Williams believes the Panthers are interested in signing him to a contract extension. "With them not franchise-tagging me, I think that's a strong indication that they're going to try to re-sign me," he said.
