Carolina Panthers
NFL Rumors: 3 Contracts Cost-Cutting Panthers Must Rework
The Carolina Panthers used to be called cheap.
However, after extending seven core players last season, the Panthers find themselves in cost-cutting mode for once.
They are $9.7 million over the salary cap, according to the Charlotte Observer.
This means they must either cut and re-sign players or restructure their deals by March 13.
Here’s a look at three players whose contracts must be reworked or otherwise must be cut for the Panthers to be under the cap when the new league year starts.
3. Jimmy Clausen, QB
After the Panthers drafted Cam Newton last year and signed Derek Anderson as his backup, Jimmy Clausen became an afterthought.
The Panthers owe Clausen a $923,000 roster bonus in March. He’s played in 13 games since he was drafted in the second round in 2010. In these games, he’s averaged just 119 passing yards per game, while completing 52 percent of his passes and throwing three touchdowns to nine interceptions.
I’d be surprised if the Panthers didn’t cut Clausen by the deadline.
2. Travelle Wharton, G
Travelle Wharton is due $7.6 million come March 13.
He has played his entire career with the Panthers and has two years left on his contract, but he turns 31 years old in May and the Panthers have plenty of younger, cheaper linemen to replace him.
This includes Byron Bell, who could slide from right tackle if Jeff Otah is healthy.
I expect the Panthers to rework Wharton’s contract.
1. Thomas Davis, LB
Thomas Davis is due an $8 million roster bonus in March.
The Panthers extended Davis last season, but in Week 2, he tore the ACL in his right knee for the third time in a 22-month span.
Davis said he’s confident the Panthers will work something out with him. I expect them to cut him and then re-sign him for much less. He can’t expect too much after being out for 14 games last season.
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Carolina Panthers’ 2011 Season Review: Defensive Ends
The numbers might not have been great, but Carolina has one of the better defensive end units in their division. While they didn’t play particularly well last season (like the rest of their injury-riddled defense), there’s reason to feel optimistic about the Panthers‘ pass rush in the coming years.
After a monstrous 2010, the Panthers paid out the nose last offseason to lock down Charles Johnson, paying him $72 million over the next six years to man the left side of their defensive front. In 2011, he showed that he was worth every penny of that contract.
The tackles and sacks were down, but this was more a product of shoddy play around him and teams game-planning for the former Georgia Bulldog. Despite facing constant double teams without any real help from the interior lineman, he managed to get to the quarterback nine times and be a real run disruptor.
Johnson is quickly climbing the ranks as one of the elite pass rushers in the NFL, and he’s a lock at the position for years to come in Carolina. We saw just how effective he can be when he has a healthy Panthers defense around him, and with Ron Rivera at the helm the future looks awfully bright for the 25 year old.
On the other side of the defensive line lives the Kraken, Greg Hardy. Just like Johnson his numbers don’t tell the whole story, but he doesn’t have the same kind of happy ending.
Hardy was first among the Panthers’ linemen with 50 tackles, was on the field for a division high 87.1 percent of the Panthers’ plays, led the team with 17 quarterback hurries and was second on the team in passes defensed with 11 (more than any other lineman in the NFL).
Put all that together, and it looks like a disruptive, resilient, high-engine pass-rusher. And while Hardy could be that guy, he just isn’t yet.
At 6’4″ and 277 pounds, Hardy is an athletic freak who certainly has the potential to develop into a well-rounded defensive end, and like I said he is putting together some nice numbers. Particularly, I love the way he gets his hands up at the line of scrimmage; 11 passes defensed in your first season as a starter is nothing to shake a leg at.
But Hardy still has a long way to go. While he is able to create some pressure on the outside and create some significant problems for the quarterback, right now his high-powered motor moves in only one direction, and that’s forward. He’s dreadful against the run, and doesn’t really have the capability to move laterally along the line of scrimmage and clog up holes.
If he doesn’t work on this, he might develop into a third-down specialist/situational-type player. But I’m not ready to give up on Hardy just yet, and there’s a lot of things that can help out the MIssissippi product.
We need to remember this past season was just his first as a starter, and he didn’t have the benefit of a full offseason in Rivera’s system. Will a full spring of OTAs and training camps, combined with a hopefully healthy defense, the Kraken just might blossom this season.
With Ron Edwards clogging up the gaps and a healthy linebacking corps providing more pressure in the middle and on the gaps, Hardy might be able to run rampant into opposing teams’ backfields.
The anomaly in the unit is Thomas Keiser. He, like fellow defensive lineman Andre Neblett, was an undrafted player who provided a much-needed boost to the Panthers’ defense late in the season. In just eight games, Keiser racked up four sacks (tied for second on the team), 13 tackles and an interception.
He still has to develop significantly before he can contribute on a consistent level, but I like what I’ve seen out of Keiser. While he might have benefited from another year at Stanford, he has the physical tools to grow into a key reserve in Rivera’s system.
His presence in the lineup also allows the Panthers’ front office to put the money originally set aside to bring back Antwan Applewhite elsewhere.
While Applewhite played a lot of key (and productive) minutes for the Panthers last season, and has a history of playing with Rivera in San Diego, I think the Panthers have to let him walk. He’ll likely demand more than the $500,000 he made in 2011, and the Panthers have other more pressing needs they should address this offseason.
Keiser is four years younger and will come with a cheaper price tag. While he doesn’t have the same kind of experience in Rivera’s system, the Panthers have already remedied that by signing former Charger Jyles Tucker to a one-year contract.
After an impressive rookie campaign and solid sophomore season, Tucker was battling ankle and pectoral injuries before finally being released by San Diego three years into his five-year contract. Originally thought to be the heir apparent to Shawne Merriman, Tucker is just one of those players whose career has been derailed by injuries.
The signing represents a low-risk, high-reward move by the Panthers, and at the very least Tucker can become a mentor to the young ends on the roster and add some significant depth at the position.
2011 PERFORMANCE GRADE: C
Johnson got his, but overall the group did not meet expectations. Like I said, a lot of this can be pinned on the exorbitant number of injuries to positions that would have provided pressure and helped players like Johnson and Hardy to get after the quarterback.
After the Tucker signing and barring any injuries, I don’t really think the Panthers need to do anything here. A full offseason with Rivera might be all some of these guys need to develop into a strong pass-rushing unit.
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Mel Kiper Jr 2012 NFL Mock Draft: Carolina Panthers Take LSU DL Michael Brockers
ESPN’s NFL draft guru Mel Kiper Jr. has released his second mock draft, and he has the Carolina Panthers selecting LSU defensive lineman Michael Brockers with the No. 8 overall pick.
This is one of the more popular selections in many of the mock drafts I’ve seen on the Internet. The collective thought here is that Brockers would be an ideal addition to the Panthers 25th-ranked run defense that allowed more than 130 yards on the ground per game in 2011.
Brockers is an extremely versatile defender that can play any position across the defensive line and obviously, at 21 years old, has a ridiculous amount of upside. He has a little Richard Seymour in him blended with the disruptive ability of Ndamukong Suh. Yes, Suh.
Kiper Jr. said the following about the Panthers’ selection of Brockers:
The Carolina defense in 2011 wasn’t helped by injuries, but the result was a unit that couldn’t stop the run, but also had a tough time generating consistent pressure on opposing quarterbacks. It starts up front, where the Panthers simply need to add talent. Brockers is a high-ceiling defensive tackle, a player who will thrive in any scheme, but could be particularly effective as a penetrator in the 4-3. The Panthers had to make do rotating a pair of rookies on the defensive interior last season, and really need to add talent and depth. The offense is going to be there—they have to find some stoppers.
Carolina’s current defensive line is extremely young, but let’s face it—Antwan Applewhite, Frank Kearse, Jason Shirley and Greg Hardy aren’t really scaring another.
Brockers brings that intimidation factor and, like quarterback Cam Newton, has loads of potential to grow as a player and will relegate one of those guys to a situational role.
He has a high motor and rarely takes plays off, another major plus to his game.
Although many Panthers fans want to see more talent infused into the offense for Newton, defense is more important at this phase, especially being in a division with Drew Brees and Matt Ryan.
Brockers is the logical pick for Carolina, a team with plenty of upside itself.
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Carolina Panthers’ 2011 Season Review: Defensive Tackles
The Carolina Panthers expected to get a boost on their defensive front in 2012, drafting two tackles in the third round of the 2011 NFL Draft and signing veteran nose tackle Ron Edwards over the offseason.
Plans kinda fell through.
Expectations for Edwards were pretty high in Charlotte. While he’s never been a Pro-Bowl talent, he put together some solid seasons in Kansas City and would certainly have been an strong replacement for last year’s starting nose tackle Derek Landri. But he went down in training camp with a torn triceps and was lost for the season before playing a single down in a Panthers uniform.
That left the task of clogging up run lanes to the Panthers’ two rookies, Stanford’s Sione Fua and South Florida product Terrell McClain. The Panthers managed to hit the trifecta of bad luck when when they placed both DT’s on the injured reserve after Week 13′s win over Tampa Bay.
When the Panthers took Fua with their second third-round pick in 2011, several draft experts called it a reach. And to be honest, he played up to that stigma during the season. Fua impressed enough during camp for the Panthers to cut youngsters Corey Irvin and Nick Hayden during training camp, but it’s clear to anyone who watched that he wasn’t ready to start at the NFL level.
He did get better later in the season and he would have greatly benefited from playing behind a veteran like Edwards. The 300-pounder might have enough athleticism to become a starting nose tackle, but I’m not convinced he has enough talent. While I’m sure the experience he gained this season will benefit him greatly down the road, he needs to develop another season or two before he’s ready to man the middle in Carolina.
McClain showed a little more promise then the man lining up to his right. The 6’2″ 290-pounder showed more lateral agility along the line and was much more effective providing pressure up the middle. After a shaky start he was starting to play really well leading up to his injury, compiling 13 tackles and one sack in Weeks eight through 13 after having just six in the seven weeks prior.
We probably won’t see any lingering effects from the left knee injury that sidelined him for the season, and a starting DT job should be McClain’s to lose next season. But give the youngster a full offseason with Ron Rivera (who’s orchestrated top-five defenses everywhere he goes) and we should see a much improved McClain in 2012.
To fill the gaping hole in left in Fua and McClain’s absence, Carolina relied heavily on the undrafted second-year player Andre Neblett and rookie Frank Kearse, who both played really well in their own rights. Kearse is a big body at 6’5″ 325 and eats a lot of space along the defensive front; however, he doesn’t really have the stamina or athleticism to be much more than a depth and situational player.
Neblett, like McClain, also showed a knack for collapsing the pocket, logging 23 tackles, 2.5 sacks, and two fumble recoveries in 12 games (four starts) last season. He has a chance to compete with McClain for significant playing time next season, and it should be an interesting battle to watch.
2011 Performance Grade: D
The Panthers were among the league’s worst against the run, especially on rush attempts up the middle. But even still, I think Rivera and company did a decent job filling in players as injuries decimated the line. When Edwards went down, so did the lines leader. Aside from the 11-year vet, the senior-most member on the line when camp broke was the second-year Kearse.
It’s hard for any unit to be productive without any veteran presence on it (just look at the entire Tampa Bay Buccaneers).
But it might not be any different next season.
There’s been grumblings that the team will release Edwards, taking his $3.5m owed over the next two seasons off the books. Whether they do this or not depends on how we use our first round draft pick in the draft.
If the Panthers decide to take a Michael Brockers or Devon Still with the eighth pick, Ronnie-boy might be the odd man out. If they go in another direction, I think Edwards gets his chance in Carolina.
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