Panthers 2012 Free Agents, Players Under Contract & Cap Space

[rico6]

A solid DT addition will make our D-line actually pretty good. The return of Beason, and another OLB addition will solidify our LB core, and we do need secondary help.

Captain wouldn't be a #2 on any other team in the league (not a knock on the guy he's actually pretty good)

[Swarly]

That contract may be the biggest blunder of this off-season. Not that D-will isn't playing well, just that he doesn't have no more than 8 carries a game. Could have saved that money for another position.

Yep fully agreed. Stewart is better than DWill in virtually every way. Stewart should 100% be an every down back and I hate seeing his potential wasted.

[Swarly]

A solid DT addition will make our D-line actually pretty good. The return of Beason, and another OLB addition will solidify our LB core, and we do need secondary help.

Captain wouldn't be a #2 on any other team in the league (not a knock on the guy he's actually pretty good)

Captain is good depth, nothing more nothing less. By no means should he be a starting #2 CB on ANY team.

Godfrey and Gamble are the only parts of the secondary I am okay with.

[R0CKnR0LLA]

Are you sure? I thought the signing bonus was spread out over the next 5 years. Does that go out the window when he's cut?

Signing bonuses are prorated over the life of the contract (up to 5 years) but if the player is cut/traded the remaining amount accelerates and counts against the cap immediately. So we'd have to take the remaining 4 years worth of signing bonus. Not going to go look it up but I believe there are offseason workout bonuses he'd have due before we had a chance to move him as well as a guaranteed base salary. His contract is more complicated than most here so the hit can vary depending on the scenario in how he's moved but it's going to be an extremely large figure regardless so I wouldn't expect even an outside chance that he's not here next year.

[Matthias]

Nah I like Hardy. He's got a nonstop motor, and at the very least he'd be a good situational guy.

There's no way we could afford a guy like Mario Williams anyways, if Rocknrolla's info is accurate.

Hardy definitely shows his potential, but if Williams all of a sudden became a free agent, I would be watering at the mouth to bring him home. You are right about the cap space problem, we payed a lot of guys a lot of money, and it hasn't payed off much this year. We will have to cut and trade our way through.

[Marguide]

I was one of those that wanted to keep DWill.

I was wrong. Not because he isn't a good player, he is, it is just we needed that money elsewhere where it could make more impact.

Anyone see Carlos Rogers get another pick today?

[Matthias]

So who do we trade or cut to make room for our cap next year? In all honesty, I wouldn't be too pained if we trade both Steve Smith and Chris Gamble if we got valuable compensation for them.

[NJPanthers12]

So who do we trade or cut to make room for our cap next year? In all honesty, I wouldn't be too pained if we trade both Steve Smith and Chris Gamble if we got valuable compensation for them.

Haven't posted here in a while, but had to respond. You want to trade our offense in Steve Smith and the second best cornerback statistically this year in Gamble. And not to mention we don't have any other starting caliber cornerbacks on this defense. Do you enjoy losing?

[Matthias]

Haven't posted here in a while, but had to respond. You want to trade our offense in Steve Smith and the second best cornerback statistically this year in Gamble. And not to mention we don't have any other starting caliber cornerbacks on this defense. Do you enjoy losing?

We're losing right now. We know their contracts take up most of the cap space next year, so if we can bring in value by trading them, we should do it. Especially if we can pick up draft picks. (this draft looks deep)

[NJPanthers12]

We're losing right now. We know their contracts take up most of the cap space next year, so if we can bring in value by trading them, we should do it. Especially if we can pick up draft picks. (this draft looks deep)

So why not restructure DeAngelo, Wharton, and Gamble. Cut Otah, Baker, and Mare. Do something with Thomas Davis contract. Give Shockey less money more years. There is a lot of opportunity to free up cap space other than trading arguably our two best players on both sides of the ball.

[NJPanthers12]

Also why is Hartsock making over 1 million. Cut him also. There is so much opportunity co clear up space.

[Matthias]

So why not restructure DeAngelo, Wharton, and Gamble. Cut Otah, Baker, and Mare. Do something with Thomas Davis contract. Give Shockey less money more years. There is a lot of opportunity to free up cap space other than trading arguably our two best players on both sides of the ball.

I don't think DeAngelo will restructure his contract for next year, and if we cut him, our cap will take a big hit. (I don't know what happen if we trade him though) Gamble is not going to restructure if he is our best corner.

Of course with all of that said, we still shouldn't hesitate to trade Smitty or Gamble if it pays well in the end. These guys aren't getting any younger, particularly Smith. Smith is having an excellect season, and this may be the last time we can trade him expecting to get something in return. I believe we should consider it.

[Matthias]

Think about it like this. Let's name the top five receivers in the league........

Calvin Johnson

Larry Fitzgerald

Andre Johnson

Steve Smith

Brandon Marshall

I would say only Andre Johnson's team is playing elite ball, and he hasn't played in 3-4 weeks. (Calvin's Lions are still showing they don't know how to finish a season) Ultimately having an elite receiver is great, but I rather have a more complete team. Gamble is a good cover corner, but he's proven he sucks at tackling. He had his hand in failing to tackle Percy Harvin on a 3rd and long that helped the Vikings beat us. So Gamble is replaceable. These guys are prime for a good trade value.

[R0CKnR0LLA]

Dead money looks like it will be a little more than I originally thought. I'm guessing around 5M without crunching the numbers. Also, our draft pick looks like it will be higher than I originally accounted for so that'll add more to the cap as well. Looks like we'll be around $10M over the cap after accounting for everything.

I'll get around to calculating dead money and updating signings/cuts toward the end of the season so we'll have a better idea of how things are heading into the offseason.