The Salary Cap Situation in Carolina

The Panthers don't have enough money for a complete rebuild, but they aren't completely limited financially.

After this team experienced a disappointing 5-11 2019 campaign, it feels safe to say that it has a lot of holes to fill over the offseason. When it comes to free agency, money is one of the biggest motivations for players to land at their desired destinations. One of the other huge motivators for players is a team's success. Unfortunately, the Carolina Panthers are in short supply for both of those things.

Many of these holes may have to be left alone because of the small budget that GM Marty Hurney has to work with. As nice as it would be for the Panthers to make a huge move in signing someone like DE Chris Jones or CB Byron Jones, it would also be highly unlikely. Let's break down what the Panthers are working with in 2020.

According to Over the Cap, the Carolina Panthers have an estimated total salary cap of slightly more than $177 million and an estimated $34.5 million in cap space. The dead cap that works against Carolina is where one of the biggest problems lies for the team to make big splashes in the offseason. The team has a little over a whopping estimated $16 million in dead money. Most of this has to do with the recent releases of Greg Olsen, Mario Addison, and Matt Kalil. 

With an egregiously high dead cap, the Panthers are limited with options in free agency. However, Marty Hurney has made moves that have been rather kind to both the team's salary cap and the strength of the roster with the recent acquisition of Browns DL Chris Smith as well as the Russell Okung/Trai Turner trade. As the team continues to work with a relatively small salary cap, it will be interesting to see what Hurney does next during this offseason.

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