Panthers free agency guide: Will Taylor Moton, Curtis Samuel be re-signed?

Last year’s free agency period for the Carolina Panthers was about as crazy as it gets.

A new quarterback, offensive weapons and the signing of veterans on both side of the ball made for busy 2020. Almost the entire defensive line departed in the spring.

What’s to be expected this year? Plenty of new faces and departures, but not as much as in 2020. A reduced salary cap will result in a free agency that’s a bit different. Who will the Panthers re-sign? Who is out the door? Here’s our look at the free agents by position, and the key decisions that need to be made.

Each free agent is accompanied by a designation from 1 to 5 of how likely they are to be re-signed with the Panthers. 5 means there is no doubt that player will be back in Carolina and a 1 designates there’s little chance that they will return. The players under contract indicate who are signed through the new league year in March.

RFA stands for a restricted free agent, any player with three accrued seasons and an expired contract. They are able to negotiate and sign with any team, but the Panthers can offer them a tender that comes with the right of first refusal and/or draft-pick compensation.

Quarterback

Under contract: Teddy Bridgewater, P.J. Walker, Will Grier, Tommy Stevens.

Free agents: None.

Key decision: What to do with Teddy Bridgewater? He is under contract through 2022 and it would cost the Panthers $20 million in dead cap space if he was not on the roster, compared with $5 million in dead cap if he is cut in 2022.

Bridgewater’s performance declined through the last six games of the year, completing 64.5% of his passes for an average of 219.5 yards per game, four touchdowns and five interceptions. He was also sacked 13 times, had five fumbles, including two lost, and rushed for three touchdowns. Head coach Matt Rhule did not commit to him as next year’s starter.

With the eighth overall pick in the draft — outside of where the top quarterbacks will be — and a tricky contract situation, the Panthers are in a tough spot.

Running back

Under contract: Christian McCaffrey, Rodney Smith, Reggie Bonnafon, Trenton Cannon.

Free agents:

▪ FB Alex Armah — 3. Armah had a career-year in terms of offensive statistics, but this may be influenced by whether or not Joe Brady stays on as the team’s offensive coordinator. A fullback has not been a key part of his offense. Armah is also a special teams contributor, but not someone it seems likely that the Panthers would invest a significant amount in.

▪ Mike Davis — 2. Davis filled in well during the 2020 season, starting 12 games in McCaffrey’s absence. He was one of four Panthers with more than 1,000 scrimmage yards — Robby Anderson, Curtis Samuel and DJ Moore — and was a dominant presence at time as a rusher and receiver. Still, he averaged just 42.8 yards per game and doesn’t have some of the speed as some of the team’s younger backs.

If Davis could be had for a reasonable price, he would be worth bringing back. But with the amount the Panthers have invested in McCaffrey, there’s a good chance Davis is offered more elsewhere.

Key decision: Who will be backing up McCaffrey? It was the biggest question for the running back room last offseason as well, and Davis surprisingly won the job. If Davis leaves, who will take over that spot? It’s clear after McCaffrey missed 13 games, it’s a position of priority, but how they will fill it will be key.

Wide receiver

Under contract: Robby Anderson, DJ Moore, Omar Bayless, Marken Michel, Ishmael Hyman, Amara Darboh, Ventell Bryant.

Free agents:

▪ Curtis Samuel — 2. Samuel put together his best season to date in Brady’s offense, finishing with 851 receiving yards and 200 rushing yards. Coming into the 2020 season, Samuel had zero career 100-yard receiving game. In his fourth season with the Panthers, he had three.

His abilities as a runner and a receiver were key for Carolina’s offense without McCaffrey on the field. But will he come back? The Panthers are going to have a difficult time affording both Samuel and right tackle Taylor Moton, the two biggest names on the free agent list. Samuel is coming off a career year, but the Panthers have their top two receivers in Anderson and Moore under contract, and they’ll have to pay Moore sooner rather than later, as well. Ultimately, paying a wide receiver with the situation on the offensive line seems unlikely, but Samuel will certainly get paid by someone after his performance, even with a deep free agent receiver class.

▪ Pharoh Cooper — 2. There doesn’t seem to be much reason of a reason to bring Cooper back. He was demoted from his job as kick returner, in favor of Cannon, and never had much of a role as backup receiver. It makes sense to look elsewhere.

▪ Brandon Zylstra (RFA) — 3. Zylstra remained down on the receiver depth chart throughout the season, even when the Panthers were missing multiple players. He contributed on special teams, but with three catches in 2020, he will not be a high priority.

▪ Keith Kirkwood (RFA) — 4. We’ll give Kirkwood a bit more of a chance due to his Rhule-Temple connections, plus the coaching staff spoke highly of him before he missed almost the entire season due to shoulder injuries. He could compete for the third receiver role, but injuries have been an issue throughout his career.

Key decision: Will the Panthers re-sign Samuel? As we discussed above, it’s going to be tricky, which makes it unlikely. Having McCaffrey’s abilities as a receiver will help soften the blow from his potential departure.

Tight end

Under contract: Ian Thomas, Colin Thompson, Giovanni Ricci.

Free agents:

▪ Chris Manhertz — 2. The Panthers need to revamp the situation at tight end. Finding a reliable pass-catcher for whoever is playing quarterback is important. Manhertz remains primarily a blocking tight end, no matter what the coaching staff said about his abilities as a receiver during training camp. He had six receptions in 2020, and while keeping him as a blocker would be helpful, they may look elsewhere for help.

Key decision: Does it make sense to draft a tight end early? Florida’s Kyle Pitts is one name to keep an eye on for the Panthers with the eighth overall pick. They need help at tight end desperately, and he would be a big boost. But is it worth using that high of pick or are there more needs elsewhere? It wouldn’t be a surprise to see the Panthers address tight end during the draft, but how much they want to invest will be the question to watch.

Offensive line

Under contract: C Matt Paradis, T Matt Kaskey, OL Dennis Daley, LT Greg Little, OL Sam Tecklenburg, T Aaron Monteiro, G Mike Horton.

Free agents:

▪ C Tyler Larsen — 3. Larsen is a solid backup option at center. He won’t be a priority to re-sign as the entire offensive line will be re-shuffled this offseason. While he’s a good option to fill in and has been with the Panthers for a large portion of his career, there are bigger areas of concern. He could be brought back but isn’t a guarantee.

▪ G John Miller — 2. The Panthers gave out multiple one-year contracts to veteran offensive linemen, and starting right guard Miller is one of them. Although he was consistent throughout the year, he allowed the most hurries on the team (18) and was penalized six times, most on the offensive line, per Pro Football Focus. Moving on is in the Panthers’ best interest.

▪ OL Chris Reed — 3. Although there is a solid chance the Panthers move on from Reed as well, who started 14 games at left guard after ending training camp testing positive for COVID-19, his consistency could make him an attractive backup moving forward at the right price. He played 100% of the offensive snaps in every game he played.

▪ RT Taylor Moton — 4. Speaking of consistency, Moton is the epitome of the word. The starting right tackle played every single offensive snap in his fourth season with the Panthers. In the previous two years, he played 99.5% of snaps in each. That’s dependability.

Moton is the biggest free agent the Panthers have. Good right tackles don’t come around every day, and Moton’s availability is one of his best qualities. He also did not allow a single quarterback hit this year, something that only one other offensive lineman who played 1,000 snaps or more can claim this year (Browns center J.C. Tretter). There’s a chance the team uses the franchise tag on him, but if not, there’s no doubt someone will pay him an estimated almost $15 million per year, per Spotrac. Keeping him in Carolina should be a priority.

▪ LT Russell Okung — 1.5. Okung played in only seven games due to various injuries and was paid $13 million. At 32-years old, re-signing him just doesn’t make sense. The Panthers need to figure out whether young players like Scott, Daley or Little can be the answer at left tackle, or if it needs to be addressed elsewhere.

▪ G Michael Schofield — 2. Schofield’s best quality is his versatility. He filled many roles for the Panthers this year, including left tackle in Week 17. However, he gave up a team-high four sacks while playing 270 snaps.

▪ OL Trent Scott (RFA) — 4. Rhule has been high on Scott and he played left tackle ahead of Little and Daley at times. Scott is a logical re-sign in terms of depth and for competition at an open left tackle position.

Key decision: Will the Panthers find a way to keep Moton in the building? The team waited to get a new deal done with the right tackle, likely at what would have been a cheaper price. We’ll see if it works out in the long run.

Defensive line

Under contract: DE Brian Burns, DE Yetur Gross-Matos, DE Marquis Haynes, DE Austin Larkin, DT Kawann Short, DT Derrick Brown, DT Woodrow Hamilton, DT Zach Kerr, DT Bravvion Roy, DT Mike Panasiuk DE Stephen Weatherly, DE Christian Miller.

Free agents:

▪ DE Efe Obada (RFA) — 4. The Panthers waived Obada shortly after he made the 53-man roster in September. But when he cleared waivers they re-signed him. It was a gamble, and in hindsight, the Panthers were lucky another team didn’t sign him.

Obada played well this season in a reserved role. The Panthers used him at defensive end and defensive tackle, and he finished the year with 5.5 sacks, which was second on the team. It would make sense to bring Obada back at the right price, and the Panthers need depth on their defensive line.

Key decision: What to do with veteran Kawann Short?

Short, who will be 32 next month and has played in only five games in the past two seasons after dealing with two season-ending shoulder injuries, has a $20.8 million salary cap number for 2021. That is the second-highest on the team behind Bridgewater.

Cutting Short makes sense. It would create $11 million in dead money, but would save them $9 million in cap space. Rhule has spoken highly of Short. He was voted a team captain before the year, and the coaching staff believes he can be an asset. Because of that, the Panthers could ask him to take a significant pay cut. But the chances that he would agree are likely slim.

Linebacker

Under contract: Jermaine Carter, Shaq Thompson, Jeremy Chinn, Chris Orr, Clay Johnston, Daniel Bituli.

Free agents:

▪ Tahir Whitehead — 1 .The Panthers brought Whitehead in on a one-year contract hoping he could fill some portion of a huge hole left by Luke Kuechly, who retired last year. He had familiarity with Rhule while both were at Temple. But Whitehead struggled this season and lost his starting job to Carter. It’s hard to see the Panthers bringing back Whitehead, who turns 31 in April.

▪ Adarius Taylor — 2. Taylor was placed on IR midway through the 2020 season, which caused him to miss three games. He finished the season with 19 tackles and started when Chinn missed a game with an injury. But he was mainly used on special teams. The Panthers probably could try to bring him back for cheap, but it would probably be best to move on.

▪ Julian Stanford — 3. Stanford strictly played special teams this past season and finished the year with 10 tackles. He’s a player who won’t cost much to sign but likely wouldn’t be a priority.

Key decision: Should the Panthers move Chinn to safety?

Panthers defensive coordinator Phil Snow said that is one of the things they’ll evaluate as a staff this offseason.

“The biggest thing with Jeremy that we have to decide is, we started him in the front-7, and then we have packages where he plays in the back row, in the secondary,” Snow said. “Well, with his body structure and his longevity and things like that, is that the best thing for him?

“Should he be a secondary guy that we use down in the box when we need to?”

Doing that means the Panthers need to add another linebacker in free agency or the draft.

Secondary

Under contract: CB Donte Jackson, CB Stantley Thomas-Oliver, CB Troy Pride, DB Myles Hartsfield, DB Natrell Jamerson, S Tre Boston, S Juston Burris, S Sam Franklin, S Kenny Robinson, S Sean Chandler.

Free agents:

▪ CB Rasul Douglas — 2. Douglas exceeded expectations after the Panthers picked him up off the waiver wire from the Philadelphia Eagles in September. Early in the season, he played well and was arguably the Panthers most consistent cornerback.

But he had his worst game against the Denver Broncos when he was beaten multiple times on double moves, which led to big gains. He was also inconsistent late in the season. He may cost more than the Panthers are willing to pay him this offseason.

▪ CB Corn Elder — 4. Elder played well this season as the Panthers nickel cornerback. He was targeted 48 times, allowed one touchdown, and opposing quarterbacks had a 89.7 passer rating when targeting him. It makes sense to bring Elder back, especially if it won’t cost much.

Key decision: If you move Chinn to safety, do you cut Burris?

Burris was solid for the Panthers in 13 games. He had a game-saving interception in Week 5 against the Falcons, but aside from that he didn’t particularly stand out. Cutting him before June 1 would save the Panthers almost $4 million in cap space. That decision would make sense if the Panthers have plans to start Chinn at safety. Undrafted rookie Sam Franklin has proven he can be a viable backup option.

Specialists

Under contract: K Joey Slye, K Lirim Hajrullahu, P Joe Charlton, P Michael Palardy.

Free agents:

▪ Long snapper J.J. Jansen — 4. Jansen has been on the Panthers’ roster longer than any other player. He is well-respected in the locker room and does his job. There’s no reason that the Panthers wouldn’t bring him back.

Key decision: Should the Panthers cut Palardy?

It makes sense. Palardy suffered a season-ending knee injury last offseason and missed the entire 2020 season. And Charlton, an undrafted rookie, was solid this season in Palardy’s place. He averaged 46.3 yards per punt and had 21 punts inside the 20. Cutting Palardy, whose contract runs through 2021, would save the Panthers $2 million in cap space.

This story was originally published January 8, 2021 at 6:00 AM.