CHARLOTTE — Now that he's back, Brady Christensen's back to being one of the old guys around here.

And with that, there's a motivation to keep things moving in the current direction.

The 29-year-old offensive lineman was part of the draft class of 2021, one of the more successful groups of the last generation, along with Jaycee Horn, Chuba Hubbard, and Tommy Tremble. All four signed new deals after their rookie contracts expired, and have been here to see the Panthers rise from two wins in 2023 to five to eight and the team's first playoff berth in a decade.

Christensen, who'll turn 30 in September, is actually now the seventh-oldest player on the roster, so he speaks from experience. "That's wild," he replied. "I still feel like a rookie."

But he's not a rookie, he's been around here long enough to understand the history of the place.

"You know, I think it's cliché, but it really does feel like a family here," Christensen said Friday, when he came in to sign his new one-year deal. "And that's hard to do in the NFL because everyone's coming and going and there's a lot of change and a lot of turnover.

"But I came walking back here, and I felt like I was coming back to my family, and I mean that. And so I'm very grateful, and I think that's the biggest change from maybe the previous years, we're just one big family that we're going to go out there and compete together."

With his return, the Panthers now have 23 players on the roster who were here for the start of training camp in 2024, the first year under coach Dave Canales and general manager Dan Morgan. That's a quarter of the roster, surviving the past two seasons of steady growth.

Of that group, six are offensive linemen, including Taylor Moton, Robert Hunt, Damien Lewis, Ikem Ekwonu, Chandler Zavala, and Christensen. Of course, Ekwonu's still coming back from his torn patellar tendon suffered during the playoff game, and they've added veteran free agent Rasheed Walker and first-rounder Monroe Freeling at left tackle, along with free agent center Luke Fortner and fifth-rounder Sam Hecht at center.

But Christensen, having started at all five positions (34 games total) in five seasons here, knows how meaningful the degree of consistency can be.

"Yeah, I think it's huge," he said. "I mean, you're not ever going to have the same O-line unit, but to have that continuity is huge. To have some of the mainstays here, still here and leading the room, I think that's going to be huge for the whole team."

Of course, using the word "continuity" is a bit unusual considering he missed the entire offseason, after rehabbing the torn Achilles he suffered midseason.

July was always the target date for him to be cleared, so he spent the spring and summer rehabbing offsite with a couple of partners, doing squats and "fast-feet" with his young sons Ledger and Levi, who were with him Friday and ready to get back to summer vacation.

But for Dad, that vacation is short, with players reporting to training camp next Wednesday and practicing Thursday.

"I knew the 9-month mark was about the start of training camp, so that was always the goal," he said. "I ended up a couple of weeks early getting cleared. But that was always the goal, to be ready for Day 1 of training camp.

"You're always open-minded throughout the process, looking for the best opportunity. But just grateful the doors kind of opened back up here, and felt great and excited to stay here and be here with the family and continue the momentum we had from last year."