Panthers Have a Tough Decision to Make: Curtis Samuel or Taylor Moton?

Both Curtis Samuel and Taylor Moton are set to be free agents this offseason.

Whoever the Carolina Panthers name as their next general manager will be faced with several tough decisions. The biggest one? Who to re-sign between wide receiver Curtis Samuel and right tackle Taylor Moton.

Both players have been very productive in their first four years of the league and are deserving of a big payday this offseason. Although the Panthers would absolutely love to bring both guys back, it almost seems impossible with the NFL's salary cap reduction of roughly $22 million down to $176 million total.

So what should the Panthers do? I'll go ahead and put on my GM cap for the moment and say that Taylor Moton needs to be the number one priority. Curtis Samuel is a great up and coming player, but it's a lot easier to find a replacement at wide receiver than it is at offensive tackle. 

Carolina already has DJ Moore and Robby Anderson locked up for the 2021 season so you still have two really explosive receivers. Head coach Matt Rhule stated earlier this week that an infusion of youth on the offensive side was needed. This is yet another deep draft class at the wide receiver position and Carolina could draft a receiver in the middle rounds to replace Samuel. 

I'll even go a step further and say that Oregon offensive tackle Penei Sewell could be an option for the Panthers at No. 8 and now, you have two solid tackles and still have a respectable receiving corps. I wouldn't want to sign Samuel to a big contract when the money needs to be allocated to the offensive line. 

Just to further show how challenging of a decision this will be, Panthers' fans were split on who to re-sign in a poll we recently conducted on our Twitter page. 51.5% said to bring Samuel back and 48.5% say to re-sign Moton. Regardless of what happens, the Panthers can't afford to let both guys walk.

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