Carolina Panthers: Charles Johnson Cut

The Carolina Panthers opened new cap room by cutting veteran defensive end Charles Johnson.

The Carolina Panthers cut longtime defensive end Charles Johnson yesterday to free up eleven million in cap room from the fifteen million dollars that he was due to make next year. This makes Johnson a free agent and means that the starters for the end of last year on the defensive end are both no longer on the Panthers roster.

The Panthers also cut loose veteran energy guy Dwan Edwards. The defensive tackle had provided a key presence when he was called to substitute for one of the other defensive tackles. Edwards was due to make only 1.5 million next year, but he was 34 years old. Edwards will be missed if the team cannot bring him back at a discount.

Johnson will be missed too if this is indeed his last hurrah with the Panthers. The third rounder from Georgia was drafted to replace Mike Rucker. He formed tandems with first Julius Peppers and then Greg Hardy in his time with the team. He was the second all time leading sacker in the franchise behind Peppers with 63.5 sacks with the team.

The clear benefit to the Panthers is more room to spend in free agency. They have opened up close to twenty-six million in cap space. It does not take much math to see that Norman’s franchise tag equals something close to the combined value of Johnson and Edwards’ cap savings. Now the Panthers can economize on Johnson’s replacement or find an end in a good draft for ends or both.

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The Panthers will need a better pass rush from the ends. Kony Ealy will likely step into that gap, but that is only part of the equation. You need three ends normally. The 2003 Panthers had Peppers, Rucker, and Al Wallace. The Giants, where Dave Gettleman game from, had Michael Strahan, Justin Tuck, and Matthias Kiwanuka when they won their first Super Bowl under Tom Coughlin. So a quality free agent and a draftee would have a certain logic.

As for the rest of the money, the Panthers are starting to re-sign players too. Mike Tolbert and Brad Nortman need new deals. There is always the coming extension talks with Kawann Short and what happens to Norman after his franchise tag year is up.

With the Combine over, the NFL Draft talk starts heating up as well. Last year saw Shaq Thompson and Devin Funchess as key rookie contributors. Perhaps a new element is waiting somewhere in that draft pool.

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