Kaye with a nice breakdown on what Dan just did

[Captain Morgan]

more than impressive when you look at the whole thing

 

@mike_e_kaye
Something that’ll likely get lost in the Rico Dowdle conjecture and the Devin Lloyd-Jaelan Phillips headlines for the #Panthers is that Dan Morgan and Brandt Tilis have done the following with the use of one-year deals:

- Retained all four of their restricted-eligible FAs on deals substantially less than the lowest restricted tender
- Retained JJ Jansen, Akayleb Evans, Trevis Gipson, Robert Rochell and David Moore on near-vet minimum deals (but with additional perks for most).
- They signed a starting-caliber LT on an incentive-laden deal that won’t hinder them in 2027 if it doesn’t work out. Plus, they don’t need force an OT pick in April.
- They’ve been able to do all this while simply cutting one player and restructuring another (more likely to come but not necessarily dire)
- The bulk of the signings being 1-year deals makes the inherent risk quite low
- They only lost three players from last year’s division-winning team thus far: Mays, Dowdle and Robinson (released). D’Anthony Bell was waived during the playoffs.
- They’ve done this all while staying “whole” with seven picks in the draft.

 

 

https://x.com/mike_e_kaye/status/2032810061806866673

 

[Growl]

Wonder if we see an extension for Moton. We have no OT’s under contract beyond next season. Still playing at a high level. Could distribute dollars across an additional season, maybe two. 

[Raleigh PF]

I'm sure it's just a technicality, but we haven't re-signed our punter yet. 

[The Huddler]

hes cookin'

[TheSpecialJuan]

We can still restructure Jaycee's contract and/or extend Damien Lewis if the front office chooses to do so

[BEASTfromdaEAST]

KEEP COOKING DAN! KEEP COOKING!

[Candler Cat]

[PanthersATL]

was curious about why all the one year deals.  Does that help or hurt for next season in terms of resigning?   it should help with the cap, I'd expect.  

[ForJimmy]

10 minutes ago, PanthersATL said:

was curious about why all the one year deals.  Does that help or hurt for next season in terms of resigning?   it should help with the cap, I'd expect.  

Flexibility. If they don’t work out we simply walk away. If they look great we have the first crack at extending them. 

[Khyber53]

12 minutes ago, ForJimmy said:

Flexibility. If they don’t work out we simply walk away. If they look great we have the first crack at extending them. 

^This.

Rico was dynamite when we needed it last season, but not enough to keep but it massively upped his earning potential. It was a win-win for both sides. And he was there to cover the hole left by the injury to another RB, and hopefully his release to free agency means there's good news for us on the way.

These new ones give us the opportunity to do that again, on the offensive line and elsewhere. We've got some long term question marks here and there due to injuries and age, and these players have a chance to up their value on the open market or settle down with us if the opportunity arises. And none of it ties us down with dead money down the road if it doesn't work out.

And we've been in dead money hell for a decade now. Lease the ones you like, buy if you fall in love.

[PanthersATL]

33 minutes ago, ForJimmy said:

Flexibility. If they don’t work out we simply walk away. If they look great we have the first crack at extending them. 

thx.

other than the potential for 1 year players to show off their impact and potentially make more $$, are there any other upsides for a player viewpoint to want a 1 year contract?
 

[Growl]

On 3/14/2026 at 9:50 AM, Growl said:

Wonder if we see an extension for Moton. We have no OT’s under contract beyond next season. Still playing at a high level. Could distribute dollars across an additional season, maybe two. 

Nm apparently Moton is under contract next season as well 

[45catfan]

One-year deals for the bulk of these guys means they are purely placeholders.  Phillips and Lloyd are the only two the front office wanted here long term, meaning we got a bunch of rentals in FA for next season.  It's like shopping at the Good Will store for a Halloween costume only to donate the items on November 1st.

Edited 4 hours ago by 45catfan

[ForJimmy]

1 hour ago, PanthersATL said:

thx.

other than the potential for 1 year players to show off their impact and potentially make more $$, are there any other upsides for a player viewpoint to want a 1 year contract?
 

They are typically prove it deals for players. They play great this one year and one of the 32 teams is paying them a nice contract in the offseason usually.