Panthers will rollover $4.27 million in cap space for 2021 season

[WarPanthers89]

The Carolina Panthers will rollover around $4.27 million in salary cap room for the 2021 season, according to Field Yates at ESPN.

While that’s not enough to go out and make any real splash signing in free agency, every little bit helps.

General manager Scott Fitterer is inheriting a challenging salary cap situation. His team needs more depth on the back end defensively and four of five starting offensive linemen are about to become free agents. Fitterer is also stuck with a mediocre quarterback on the books for at least another year and a history-making contract for a running back.

Panthers fans currently asking for the franchise to mortgage the future in order to trade for Deshaun Watson need to be patient and understand it’s going to take more than one big move to turn this thing around.

https://pantherswire.usatoday.com/2021/01/21/panthers-cap-space-rollover-2021-season/?fbclid=IwAR0n5yq_2zuzbNyGfXC092c6r3quPrleOZAA371crp-2KXt4H0ubOdqTiyo

Edited January 21, 2021 by WarPanthers89

[Jesse]

Add the $9M or cutting KK and negotiate a couple contracts and we can easily make a splash in FA or re-sign Moton

[WarPanthers89]

3 minutes ago, Jesse said:

Add the $9M or cutting KK and negotiate a couple contracts and we can easily make a splash in FA or re-sign Moton

Agreed. Moton should be our one and only big signing in my opinion but we still have a lot of holes to fill even with signing cheap starters (two G spots, LT, CB x2 and MLB minimum. Along with DT depth) 
 

Side note: Luke Kuechly and Gano count for over 9 million in dead cap this upcoming season

Edited January 21, 2021 by WarPanthers89

[Mr. Scot]

General belief is that Moton will be getting the franchise tag.

Fitterer is said to be a good people person. Maybe he can talk him into re-signing.

Edited January 21, 2021 by Mr. Scot

[WarPanthers89]

Just now, Mr. Scot said:

General belief is that Moton will be getting the franchise tag.

True and I agree that’s a must, but that leaves very little to fill the other 6 starting spots and depth/draft picks. Our new GM has his hands full this year. Hurney left us in rough cap shape yet again with very little talent under contract that is not on a rookie wage scale.

[Seltzer]

The Panthers can certainly be active in FA if they want to.  The question is always about risk vs. reward in terms of mortgaging the future if you think you can win now vs. making sure you are able to continue to be competitive long-term.

The Panthers took a massive hit in dead cap this year (most in the league).  Meaning they have already starting cleaning up the mess of bad contracts like Matt Kalil, etc.

The conundrum remains on determining how close this team is to competing and making decisions based on that.

I saw the Saints signed Jarius Byrd in 2014 when they literally were in the worst cap shape of any team in the league.  In retrospect, it took them 3 mediocre years to overcome that (really their awesome 2017 draft was the thing that saved them).

Ultimately, the Panthers can be super active if they want.  History/ analytics probably indicates they should continue to be methodical vs trying to make a splash for longer-term success.

But Deshaun Watson remains the wildcard.  I feel confident we should mortgage the future to get him b/c I think long-term it is the best investment the team can make.

And let's be honest.  The turnaround shouldn't take much more than this year regardless.  NFL coaches who can't compete by year 3 probably aren't going to.

The NFL is too much of a "Not-For-Long league to not be bold sometimes.  

[TheBigKat]

How is this team ALWAYS cap strapped

[ericr0319]

19 minutes ago, Jesse said:

Add the $9M or cutting KK and negotiate a couple contracts and we can easily make a splash in FA or re-sign Moton

Add Michael Palardy and Stephen Weatherly to the list to add another $5.5 million in space

[NAS]

4 minutes ago, TheBigKat said:

How is this team ALWAYS cap strapped

Because we had Hurney for most of the century as our GM

[Seltzer]

15 minutes ago, WarPanthers89 said:

True and I agree that’s a must, but that leaves very little to fill the other 6 starting spots and depth/draft picks. Our new GM has his hands full this year. Hurney left us in rough cap shape yet again with very little talent under contract that is not on a rookie wage scale.

Moore, Burns, Chinn, Brown, Jackson, Kerr, Obada Carter, & Daley are all good players (starter-caliber) that will still be on rookie deals next year (or in Kerr's case a very team-friendly deal).  Look around the league- that's pretty good honestly.

It's easy to crap on the mistakes your team makes b/c they are self-evident, but the Panthers are in much better shape this year than last, from a roster and salary-cap standpoint.

The Panthers were in perhaps the toughest spot in the league going into this year.  I'm sold on Rhule.

Rhule knows though that the NFL is different than college in that the QB question dwarfs anything else.

Solidifying the QB position is the most important thing any team can do.  A franchise QB is the best deodorant for other failures in building the team.

All the coaching in the world isn't going to elevate Teddy to being a top 10 QB.  

We are better off finding the right QB and letting Rhule, Brady, and Snow coach the other players up even if it means lower draft picks.

Edited January 21, 2021 by Seltzer

[Ricky Spanish]

12 minutes ago, TheBigKat said:

How is this team ALWAYS cap strapped

Well, we weren't for about 2 years there, but in between those two years we brought Hurney back and we aren't rolling much cap over again (to no surprise).

[Waldo]

Draft well, find a way to retain drafted talent and find value in the free agency. That's a winning model I hope we can follow now.  

I could see us going after a middle tier CB, OG and DT. Unless something drastically changes, we are not set up to have a reason to be chasing the mega free agent contracts. We need to figure out how to clear the dead cap mess, clear the dead weight on the roster (ie.  KK), while getting into position to resign our drafted guys who will be ending their rookie contracts moving forward. I think an LT would be the one exception due to positional value & need but I haven't heard too much about what that will look like this year yet and hasn't worked out well for us in the past. 

I don't know if we have a chance at any comp picks this offseason other than Samuel. It doesn't sound like that will play a big part of this offseason for us. 

[Pup McBarky]

Thank God the Saints have $4 million to roll over. That will get them from $100 million to $96 million over the cap. I'm sure they'll somehow be able to sign several good players despite this.

[DeeJay]

https://overthecap.com/salary-cap/carolina-panthers/

2022 we have a ton of cash moolah

2021 not so much but I dont see this team being exactly the same as it was in 2020.