Keeping the band together long term.

[panther4life]

Last year dead money and Hardy's franchise tag accounted for 40 million of our overall cap!

Fast forward to 2016, Hardy is long gone and our current dead money figure is scheduled to be at 2.6 million next year.

Originally this was a long drawn out very detailed post providing a brief history and refresher for most on how we got to be in salary cap hell.I then went on to explain how those days are over and how there is no reason to fear being able to keep this core together long term. I then decided to condense it down to the meat and potatoes. 

Gettlemans first year (2013) we had 18.7 Million in dead money. In 2014 it went up to 26.9 Million! For 2015 the dead money is currently at 14.2 Million. For 2016 that number is currently down to 2.6 Million. The number could rise pending if we decided to end anyone else's contract early. (Maybe Stewart).

For 2016 if the estimated cap of 154 million is true we currently have about 20 million in cap space with much less painful ways of increasing this space than in years past.

• Cut Allen (frees up 8.5 million and causes 0 dead money)
• Cut Jonathan Stewart 2016 cap hit is 9.5 million, if cut we still have to pay 3.65 million in dead money in 16 and 17, for a net savings of 5.9 million in 2016)
• Cut Roman Harper (2016 cap hit is 4.6 Million, we'd have to pay 450k in dead money in 16 and 17 for a net savings of 4.1 million in 2016)

Those 3 moves alone will add 18.5 million in immediate cap space for 16 while only pushing dead money of 4.1 into 2017. There is also a strong possibility we could either reduce Charles Johnson's cap figure by at least 5 million by an extension or decide to cut him out right and have over 11 million in immediate cap relief without pushing any dead money into 2017. I'll assume we extend him. Get his cap figured down to around 9 million. A similar extension is possible for Kalil but not necessary or even ideal for future implications.

So by parting with 3 players and extending CJ we can have over 40 million in cap space next year.

Heres our 2016 free agents http://www.spotrac.com/nfl/free-agents/carolina-panthers/

Mike Tolbert	FB	30	CAR	TBD	$3,425,000	UFA
Roman Harper	SS	32	CAR	TBD	$1,800,000	UFA
Josh Norman	CB	27	CAR	TBD	$1,591,750	UFA
Amini Silatolu	G	27	CAR	TBD	$1,570,897	UFA
Charles Tillman	CB	34	CAR	TBD	$1,531,250	UFA
J.J. Jansen	LS	29	CAR	TBD	$995,000	UFA
Frank Alexander	DE	25	CAR	TBD	$760,272	UFA
Kyle Love	DT	29	CAR	TBD	$745,000	UFA
Brad Nortman	P	26	CAR	TBD	$679,670	UFA
Joe Webb	QB	29	CAR	TBD	$665,000	UFA
Chris Scott	G	28	CAR	TBD	$665,000	UFA
Stephen Hill	WR	24	CAR	TBD	$594,500	RFA
Tyronne Green	G	29	CAR	TBD	$585,000	UFA
Ben Jacobs	ILB	27	CAR	TBD	$585,000	RFA
Mike Remmers	RT	26	CAR	TBD	$585,000	ERFA
Fernando Velasco	G	30	CAR	TBD	$550,588	UFA
Brenton Bersin	WR	25	CAR	TBD	$450,000	RFA
Wes Horton	DE	25	CAR	TBD	$447,352	RFA
Ryan Delaire	DT	23	CAR	TBD	$358,235	ERFA
Scott Simonson	TE	23	CAR	TBD	$330,000	ERFA
Cortland Finnegan	CB	31	CAR	TBD	-	UFA

Harper only appears on this list as he has an option to opt out. He won't, if anything he'll be cut. The rest of the list looks very manageable. Josh Norman needs to be locked up long term, it'd be nice to have Tillman back for another year and he'd likely be very affordable making it a no brainer. Tolbert would be welcomed back for another year if he's willing to play at a reduced number. Remmers and Delaire are restricted free agents that will only require a small tender to keep. Basically anyone on that list we choose to keep aside from Norman will cost very little. This will give us plenty of room to get a jump on extending anyone coming due such as Star, Short, Turner etc.  in the future or we can always roll over any used cap space into the next year as well.

We really have no major holes that will need to be addressed in free agency so we don't have to spend big there. As long as Gettleman continues to draft impact players who we get at the new rookie wages for 3-5 years then we can pretty much keep anyone we want. By the time half of our young stars are due for new deals,cap hits previously allocated to now aging vets will start to come off at the same time. The only other thing Gettleman will have to do is keep up the good work of filing in holes with good vets that sign reasonable deals such as Coleman and Oher. Another huge plus we have had is the scouting department has been doing an excellent job finding underrated free agents to come here and contribute at the cheapest deals possible.

Life is good as a panther fan and the sacrifices have been made in order to ensure things can stay this way for a long time to come!

 

 

 

 

[Bozarden]

No way we should cut stewart. He is probably the 2nd or 3rd most important player on offense. find a way to extend him/restructure his deal, but after this season, there is no way that we cut him IMO.

[The Lobo]

10 minutes ago, Bozarden said:

No way we should cut stewart. He is probably the 2nd or 3rd most important player on offense. find a way to extend him/restructure his deal, but after this season, there is no way that we cut him IMO.

I used to think we would cut him after the season, but the way he has played I have changed my mind. He is so valuable to us. I can see them restructuring his deal somehow.

[UpstatePanther]

Maybe I'm overly optimistic, but all those guy's might be restructured and Norman locked up too with space to spare for the draftees and a couple FA stop-gaps

[imminent rogaine]

The better we are, the easier it will be for G-man to land these value-vets or keep the homegrown talent.

I'm just ready for the season to be over so we can start talking about signing Hakeem Nicks!!!!!!!!

 

Edit: But seriously, Alshon, what's up?

[EgoDogg]

Really would love to see a contract for Norman around 5 years, $63 Million ($12.6 mill / year)

• 2016: $18m (Darrelle Revis is getting $17 million in 2016 for comparison. Averages $14m / year)
• 2017: $17m
• 2018: $12m
• 2019: $9m
• 2020: $7m

With the anticipated cap increases, I don't see something like this being impossible to do. If his skills diminish in his 30's, low cost to cut. The health of our salary cap right now is so nice to look at. I remembered waiting for the inevitable backloaded contracts to catch up. What a nice feeling this is! And thanks for the detailed report @Panther4Life!

[juliosantos]

38 minutes ago, The Lobo said:

I used to think we would cut him after the season, but the way he has played I have changed my mind. He is so valuable to us. I can see them restructuring his deal somehow.

hypothetically speaking say derek henry or a top rb falls to us in the first and we draft them would you still want to restructure stewart or just go with the fresh legs?

[Peppers90 NC]

Love has been getting better, able to replace Dwan in the future. I see him as a lock to be back seeing we resurrected his career.

[gtanaka]

Now that we're are superbowl contenders and people know it too, and hear about how great our locker room and coach is, players are actually going to be wanting to come here. Solid vets looking for another chance at a ring. We're at the top and I literally see nowhere else to go but up right now.

[shaqattaq]

1 hour ago, Bozarden said:

No way we should cut stewart. He is probably the 2nd or 3rd most important player on offense. find a way to extend him/restructure his deal, but after this season, there is no way that we cut him IMO.

I agree, hopefully he'll restructure. Jared is good, but not $8.5million good and Harper needs replacing. Let's draft a safety, not sure boston is out guy.

[hepcat]

Norman, Remmers, Jansen, Nortman - the only "Starters" on the list as it stands right now.  Tillman was expected to be a one year player regardless and I'd be surprised if he was back.  Norman will be franchise tagged and then let go next year.  He'll command too much money to keep long term with some key players to re-sign within the next couple years.  Tolbert could be re-signed for a short and reasonable contract because he probably want to stay a Panther, I'd expect him back.  I think JJ Jansen, Brad Nortman, and Joe Webb are locks to be re-signed, crucial special teams players.  Kyle Love, Ryan Delaire, Brenton Bersin...all might be re-signed to 1 year deals.

Mike Remmers could be re-signed, but depends on how much he can get elsewhere.  They drafted Daryl Williams to likely be the starter next year, so Remmers could be expendable, but if he comes at a reasonable price he'd be a great tackle to keep as depth.  Other than that I don't see many names on that list that are worth keeping.  Gettleman likes to shuffle the bottom of the roster with good new players every year, and he's one of the best in the league at it.  #InGettlemanITrust

[panther4life]

I strongly disagree that we'd franchise Norman and then let him walk. If we did franchise him it would be with the intent of hammering out a long term deal. 

He should demand and get something in between what Byron Maxwell(10.5 million per year average)and Richard Sherman signed for last year (14 million per year average). If he falls right in the middle he would get 12.25 per year average. Which would equate to a deal of 4 years 49 million. Something along those lines is affordable for us. And would make him a top 5 paid corner in the league behind Revis,Peterson,Haden,Sherman which he should be happy to get.

As far as Remmers go he's a restricted free agent. We could put a 2nd round tender on him for just over 2 million. If another team pays more take the 2nd rounder and start Williams. If not he's worth keeping as he can backup center or start at RT.

If Tillman wants to go another year we should gladly welcome him back. He would likely come back very cheap and pending our draft would still be our 2nd best corner assuming we retain Norman.

Tolbert I could go either way on. If he's cheap I don't hate bringing him back but I also wouldn't be upset if we let him walk and allocate that money elsewhere.