Carolina Panthers: Keep Kalil on Board

By John Woodcock | Jun 7, 2016

Feb 7, 2016; Santa Clara, CA, USA; Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton (1) awaits the snap from center Ryan Kalil (67) during the fourth quarter Denver Broncos in Super Bowl 50 at Levi /

The Carolina Panthers made a move to keep their core intact by extending center Ryan Kalil through 2018.

The Carolina Panthers have a boat load of money to play with right now. This money was the result of general manager Dave Gettleman working his way carefully through negotiations over the past few years.

That process was not easy as it led to building the offensive line through what was possible and not was recommended. Of course the most famous result of his strategy has been the decision to cut ties with cornerback Josh Norman.

One Carolina Panthers lineman had a big contract dating to before the arrival of Gettleman. That was center Ryan Kalil. Kalil has been a constant presence in the Pro Bowl voting during much of his career. Although some of the big Marty Hurney contracts of the late 2000s could be questioned, Kalil has been worth his deal. That deal was due to expire at the end of the year.

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Life without a good center can be rough. Now the Panthers will not to have worry about it as much. They have extended Kalil’s contract for two more years to 2018. This means that Kalil will continue to captain the offensive line as Cam Newton hits his prime.

The lovefest between the Panthers and Kalil was everywhere in their comments about the deal. Kalil talked about the class of the organization and his enjoyment of the locker room. Gettleman praised Kalil’s leadership and his high level of play. After the Josh Norman drama, it was quite refreshing of an exchange.

Kalil has an interesting side note to his time in Carolina. After the rookie year of Cam Newton, Kalil took out an ad claiming the 2012 Panthers were Super Bowl bound. He was off by about three years, but clearly Kalil saw something even back then.

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The Panthers are not necessarily done doing extensions along the offensive line. With Kalil done, attention now shifts to Michael Oher. The left tackle is entering the last year of his prove it deal and everybody has been generally happy with the results. The Panthers certainly did not draft his replacement in the last draft.

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