Carolina Panthers: Weddle me this?
The Carolina Panthers will be hamstrung back salary cap, but there are some moves they could consider, we hope.
The Carolina Panthers will have be careful with the moves they make during free agency. Though General manager Dave Gettleman has been slowing digging the team out of salary cap problems, the Panthers will not be in particularly aggressive position this year. That said, the team could afford to make some moves since the schedule only gets harder next season.
Any Panthers calculation as to include franchising Josh Norman. If the Panthers have any desire to keep Norman at all, they have to franchise him. On the market, Norman is worth about $14 million per year if he commands a deal similar to Darelle Revis or Richard Sherman. Franchising Norman brings that number down to about twelve or thirteen.
Then there are the role players. Mike Tolbert is a free agent and not likely to come down from that $3.5 million threshold he made last year. Even if he were to take a pay cut, it would not be very far from that number. Brad Nortman needs a raise. So too does Mike Remmers, unless the Panthers are suddenly going to walk away from him (say for a draftee).
The Panthers have parted ways with Roman Harper and Jerricho Cotchery for the time being. It is unlikely that they bring Cotchery back. Harper might return if they can work something out, but the Panthers may have other plans for the position (Tre Boston).
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The Panthers have a cap number of around $16 million to play with. That disappears quickly if you franchise Norman and then you get a very conservative off season for the team. However there are free agents out there who are familiar with the Ron Rivera-Dave Gettleman regime. According to reports from Joel Corry of CBS Sports and a former sports agent, those ties might lead to an interesting development or two.
The most interesting development would be potentially signing Eric Weddle of the San Diego Chargers. Weddle is a safety who could fill Harper’s spot and then some since he has a Pro Bowl resume. He was with San Diego when Rivera was the defensive coordinator there. He left the Chargers partially because they would not let him watch his daughter perform at halftime during a game. So it is fair to say Weddle values a family atmosphere.
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Weddle has haunted my dreams ever since he played both ways at Utah and was part of the Urban Meyer team that went undefeated and blew out the Tar Heels. He fell to the third round, but you always knew this guy was going to make it.
The problem with Weddle is the price tag. He was making eight million last year. He is not looking for a pay cut. Weddle and Norman alone would eat the cap space the Panthers have built and then some. Perhaps the team can renegotiate some of its deals (Charles Johnson), but as things stand right now signing Weddle is a financial impossibility.
It is unfortunate since Weddle would very much fit the Panthers defense. Nor do I believe that the Panthers have given up massaging current contracts to try and get some money out. If not Weddle then maybe there is another piece out there the Panthers can upgrade with, and of course there is always the NFL Draft.
The Draft Combine Begins today.