Explaining Miles Sanders' Contract with the Panthers

A look at what it took for the Panthers to land one of the top free agent backs.

Panthers GM Scott Fitterer told the media earlier this offseason that this would be a more "sexy" offseason than the team has had in years past. Earlier this week, Fitterer made his first big splash by signing tight end Hayden Hurst and then hours later, agreed to terms on a deal with free agent running back Miles Sanders.

The two sides agreed on a four-year, $25 million deal with $13 million of that being guaranteed money ($11 million at signing). According to Spotrac, Sanders will carry a cap hit of $2.7M in 2023, $7.6M in 2024, $8.1M in 2025, and $6.7M in 2026. In 2024 he will have a roster bonus of $2M and a roster bonus of $1M in 2025 and '26. After year two of the deal, if Carolina were to decide to move on from Sanders, it would drop the dead money significantly, down from $10.4M to $2.9M. They would also save $5.2M in cap space should a cut happen in '25 and $5.3M if one happened in '26.

So although a four-year deal seems an awfully long time for a running back, it's not one that Carolina is truly tied to. The way the contract is set up, it's basically a two-year deal that allows them to keep Sanders for two additional years with little to no risk.

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