Bradley Bozeman didn’t play an offensive snap in Carolina’s first six games of the 2022 NFL season as Pat Elflein handled the work at center for the Panthers.

But when the season ended, Carolina made keeping Bozeman from leaving in free agency a priority.

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“It’s huge,” Panthers general manager Scott Fitterer said on Monday when asked about Carolina retaining the former Alabama standout for 2023. “You get a guy like that, a huge locker-room guy, great in the community, big personality, but really good football player on top. We said going into the offseason he was a priority, and he was a priority and we wanted to get him done. And we’re so excited to get that guy back because he means so much to us as a team not just as a player but as a person.”

Bozeman never made it to free agency last week. Instead, he signed a three-year, $18 million contract extension with Carolina that included a $4.92 million signing bonus and $10 million in guaranteed money.

Elflein’s season-ending hip injury opened a spot in the lineup for Bozeman, and he played every offensive snap in the Panthers’ final 11 games in 2022.

When Bozeman entered the lineup, Carolina had a 1-5 record and had just traded former All-Pro running back Christian McCaffrey to the San Francisco 49ers. The Panthers went 6-5 with Bozeman at center. After averaging 90.3 rushing yards per game without Bozeman, the Panthers averaged 151.6 with him.

Carolina’s surge landed the Panthers at No. 9 in the order for the 2023 NFL Draft. But Carolina traded with the Chicago Bears to obtain the No. 1 pick, where the Panthers are targeting a quarterback.

RELATED: WILL THE NO. 1 PICK BE A TALL ORDER FOR THE PANTHERS?

Carolina coach Frank Reich said having Bozeman at center to work with the rookie QB was “really important. Scott and I talked about that right from the beginning when Boze’s name got brought up. This is a guy we need. He’s a leader. He’s an alpha. That’s what you need from that center position, so really happy to have him.”

By re-signing Bozeman, the Panthers kept in place for 2023 the offensive linemen who started the final 11 games of the 2022 season.

“To have that cohesiveness we had last season, to be able to build together for the next few years is great,” Bozeman told Carolina’s official website after signing his new deal. “It’s really hard to get all five guys back every year, so that’s a huge opportunity for us. I feel like with this group, having that kind of communication, the end of last year builds into this year, so we’ll pick up from there and continue to add to the list of things we can and can’t do.”

Around Bozeman, Carolina again will have Ikem Ekwonu at left tackle, Brady Christensen at left guard, Austin Corbett at right guard and Taylor Moton at right tackle.

The only question mark for the Panthers’ offensive line concerns the timetable for Corbett, who suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament in Carolina’s final game of the 2022 season.

Reich is preparing for his first season as the Panthers’ coach. In assembling his staff, he retained offensive-line coach James Campen to continue his work with the returning players.

“That was massive,” Bozeman said. “That was one of the reasons I came here originally. And to hear that he got brought back was a great feeling. Knowing I was coming into the situation I came into last year — same coach, same amazing linemen in that room — just so excited.”

Bozeman joined the Panthers last year as a free agent on one-year, $2.8 million contract after reaching the end of his four-year, $2.578 million rookie deal signed after the Baltimore Ravens selected him in the sixth round of the 2018 NFL Draft.

As a rookie, Bozeman played 214 offensive snaps in 14 games with one start. For the next three seasons, he hardly came off the field for the Baltimore offense.

With Bozeman at left guard, the Ravens rushed for more than 3,000 yards in 2019 and 2020 season – two of the six times that has been accomplished in NFL history.

Bozeman shifted to center for Baltimore in 2021.

A former Handley High School standout, Bozeman served as Alabama’s starting center in the 2016 and 2017 seasons, capping his career in the Crimson Tide’s 26-23 overtime victory against Georgia in the CFP national championship game.

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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.