Panthers and tackle Taylor Moton agree to long-term deal
The Panthers have secured a key piece of the team’s offensive line for years to come.
Right tackle Taylor Moton has agreed to a five-year deal with Carolina, per sources. He is under contract now through the 2025 season and is still scheduled to earn about $13.75 million in 2021, as he would have if a long-term deal had not been reached.
The total value of the contract is five years, $85 million with $43 million guaranteed, per a league source. After the 2021 season, he will earn $70.5 million for four seasons.
The two sides had until 4 p.m. Thursday to work out a long-term deal, which came together just an hour before the deadline. The two sides had been talking for months. He would have been set to become a free agent in 2022 if an extension was not agreed to by that time.
Of the seven players across the league that were still scheduled to play on the tag going into the week, Moton was the only one who agreed to a long-term deal by the deadline. With an average of $17 million per season over the five years, he is now tied for the ninth-highest paid offensive tackle based on average salary, per Spotrac. The $43 million guaranteed is the eighth-most among tackles.
Moton had been willing to play on the tag since he was tagged in March.
“I’m here in the building right now,” Moton said when asked during the team’s minicamp if he would play under the tag. “I don’t see a reason why not to, but like I said, the whole contract situation is just something I can talk to about my agent. For now, I’m just focused on being the best football player I can be until minicamp is over, and then through this offseason program, just doing what I can to be the best I can be.”
With the deal, the Panthers lock up the team’s best and most consistent offensive lineman for years to come. At the end of June, the New Orleans Saints re-set the market for right tackles, signing All-Pro Ryan Ramczyk to a five-year deal worth $96 million, including $60 million guaranteed, making him the highest-paid right tackle in the NFL. His average salary is third-most among right tackles, also behind Philadelphia Eagles lineman Lane Johnson ($18 million per year).
Right tackle is the position that has seen the biggest increase in the amount of growth that the top five players at the position earn since 2017 (73%), per Pro Football Focus.
Moton, who will turn 27 on Aug. 14, was originally drafted by the Panthers in the second round of the 2017 draft out of Western Michigan. Since 2018, he has started 48 straight games and has yet to miss an NFL game in his career. After starting the first two games of the 2018 season at left tackle, he has been a constant on the right side of the line and has played at least 99.5% of the team’s offensive snaps each of the last three years. He has not been named to an All-Pro team or a Pro Bowl.
Entering his fifth year in the NFL, Moton is coming off his best season to date. He has allowed 10 sacks in his career, per Pro Football Focus, and only three last season. Moton has given up four career quarterback hits and allowed 19 pressures in 2020, which was the second-fewest among offensive tackles that played at least 1,000 snaps (Garett Bolles).
Moton was the only tackle to play 1,000 snaps in 2020 and not give up a single quarterback hit, per PFF. He was called for one penalty last year.
Rebuilding the offensive line is a long-term project for the Panthers, with question marks about the future at almost every position. Taking care of a consistent presence at right tackle, however, is a step in fortifying the line for the future and a key part in supporting the likes of Sam Darnold and Christian McCaffrey.
Veteran center Matt Paradis is entering the final year of his deal with the team and versatile lineman Pat Elflein may be next to take over the position. There are not clear starters under contract for future seasons at either of the guard spots or at left tackle. Having security at right tackle is that much more important due to the uncertainty at left tackle. The team is set to start a different player at left tackle for the ninth straight season.
During the Panthers’ organized team activities, Moton dd play some snaps at left tackle, but the team has not yet committed any significant steps to moving him to the other side of the line, away from where he is most comfortable. Third-round pick Brady Christensen, who played left tackle in college, has also been practicing on the right side of the line thus far.
Moton becomes the third offensive lineman in franchise history franchise tagged and then signed to a long-term deal, joining left tackle Jordan Gross and center Ryan Kalil.
This story was originally published July 15, 2021 at 3:04 PM.
