Carolina Panthers: Short’s Price May Be Going Up

The Carolina Panthers have now seen two players, Fletcher Cox and Muhammad Wilkerson, get eye opening deals that could impact negotiations with Kawann Short.

The Carolina Panthers did not get to see Cam Newton win at the Espys. They also got a couple of hits from players signing contracts with other teams. First, Von Miller agreed to a new contract with the Broncos that made him the highest paid defender ever. He will be in the game against the Panthers in game 1.

Second, the Jets came to terms with defensive end Muhammad Wilkerson to get him off the franchise tag. Wilkerson will be making eighty-six million dollars over the next five years. He will be making something like $17.2 million a year. Wilkerson is twenty-six years old and had twelve sacks last year.

Sound familiar? Panthers defensive tackle Kawann Short is twenty-seven and just got an eleven sack season. Wilkerson and Short play different positions that have different requirements, but that probably goes in Short’s favor as well. He is more important to the Panthers than Wilkerson is to the Jets.

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These things suggest that the Panthers will have to go above the $17 million a year threshold for Short. That had been their firm position up to now. Even the new deal the Eagles gave Fletcher Cox id not really push the team off of that.

Now there is two deals, Cox and Wilkerson. While NBA and NFL free agency are not exactly comparable, the paying of more than $15 million per year for star defensive line guys is quickly becoming the norm. You could even throw Miller’s deal in there since he is more a pass rusher than a roaming linebacker like Thomas Davis.

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So the goal posts are shifting on Dave Gettleman and he will have to decide how he wants to handle this. Fortunately we are still a year and a potential franchise tag year away from Short being able to leave town.