The Panthers have 28 players who will be free agents when the 2019 league year begins in March.We already know that Ryan Kalil is
retiring
Blue Luke Kuechly Jersey , so he won’t be re-signed. It’s also possible that 2018 was the last time we see Julius Peppers, but he hasn’t made his decision
final as of today. Thomas Davis has said multiple times that he’d love to come
back to Carolina for at least one more year. Devin Funchess will get a
multi-year deal somewhere, but considering that he was a healthy scratch in the
season finale against the Saints, it’s probably unlikely that the multi-year
deal will come from Carolina. With Cam Newton’s shoulder health in question, the
Panthers will likely need another backup quarterback to pair with Kyle Allen
during the offseason. Taylor Heinicke is a restricted free agent, so he’ll
probably be back to at least participate in OTAs and training camp while we wait
for more information on Cam’s shoulder situation. There are some grizzled old
veterans on the list who could possibly come back for at least one more
year—Kyle Love, Ben Jacobs and Mike Adams, just to name a few.There are also a
few names on this list that are all but guaranteed to not return in 2019.
Chandler Catanzaro will almost assuredly go elsewhere since he was only signed
to replace Graham Gano after he injured his knee. We’ve probably seen the last
of Fozzy Whittaker, Cameron Artis-Payne, Kenjon Barner and Amini Silatolu as
well.Daryl Williams is a coin flip at the moment. He’s probably going to be too
expensive to retain, but there’s a chance his injury keeps his price down enough
that the Panthers can make an offer he’ll be willing to accept. Hopefully they
can find a way to keep him in Carolina, because offensive line depth is a
serious issue for the Panthers heading into next season, and when healthy
Williams is a quality right tackle.I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Panthers
offer Eric Reid a multi-year contract. Both sides appear to be amenable to
making that happen, so long as the Panthers offer Reid what he feels is ‘market
value’. I can’t imagine the Panthers will let Wes Horton go too far away from
Charlotte since they need defensive end help in the worst way (especially if
Peppers retires) and I’m sure that we’ll see either Efe Obada or Bryan Cox Jr.
(or both) offered a chance to stay in Carolina as well. Both of them being
exclusive rights free agents all but guarantees they will have a chance to make
the 53-man roster in July.Here is the full list of 28 free agents for the
Panthers heading into 2019, broken down into three categories—unrestricted,
restricted and exclusive rights. Below the list of free agents will be a quick
primer on what those three categories mean.Unrestricted free agents S Mike
AdamsRB Cameron Artis-PayneRB Kenjon BarnerRB Travaris CadetK Chandler
CatanzaroOT Chris ClarkLB Thomas DavisWR Devin FunchessDE Wes HortonLB Ben
JacobsS Colin JonesC Ryan KalilDT Kyle LoveLB David MayoOT Marshall NewhouseDE
Julius PeppersS Eric ReidG Amini SilatoluRB Fozzy WhittakerOT Daryl
WilliamsRestricted free agentsWR Damiere ByrdQB Taylor HeinickeTE Chris
ManhertzLB Jared NorrisExclusive rights free agentsDE Bryan Cox Jr.RB Elijah
HoodDE Efe ObadaS Damian ParmsHow many of these players would you like to see
return to the Panthers in 2019? Which players should be prioritized the most?
Share your wish list with us!Unrestricted free agentUnrestricted free agents are
players with expired contracts that have completed four or more accrued seasons
of service. They are free to sign with any franchise.Restricted free
agentRestricted free agents (RFAs) are players who have three accrued seasons of
service and whose contracts have expired. RFAs have received qualifying offers
from their old clubs and are free to negotiate with any club until a deadline
which occurs approximately a week prior to the NFL Draft (for 2010 the deadline
was April 15)
Luke Kuechly Jersey 2019 , at which time their rights revert to their original club. If a player accepts an offer from a new club, the old club will have the
right to match the offer and retain the player. If the old club elects not to
match the offer, it may receive draft-choice compensation depending on the level
of the qualifying offer made to the player.Exclusive rights free
agentExclusive-rights free agents (ERFAs) are players with two or fewer seasons
of service time and whose contracts have expired. If their team tenders a
qualifying offer (a one-year contract usually at league-minimum salary) the
player has no negotiating rights with other teams, and must either sign the
tender with the team or sit out the season.~ Free agent definitions courtesy of
WikipediaCarolina Panthers sign Dezmen Southward to practice squad The Carolina
Panthers have added safety Dezmen Southward to their practice squad to replace
Josh Hawkins, who was activated to the 53-man roster last week when Da’Norris
Searcy was placed on injured reserve.Southward has been with the Panthers on and
off again since 2016. He was active for one game in 2017 and spent the rest of
his time on the practice squad.The Panthers only have three active safeties on
the 53-man roster (Mike Adams, Colin Jones, Rashaan Gaulden), so there’s a
chance that Southward will be activated after the bye week just to give the
Panthers more depth at the position. While I know that bringing in Southward is
a good idea to add bodies to the room, there’s another way the Panthers could
add not only depth, but quality at the safety position—sign Eric Reid. He’s
available, he’s talented, he’s young and he fills a need. There’s no good reason
to let a perfectly good solution to one of the defense’s biggest problems go to
waste. Bring him in Marty, even if it’s only a one-year deal, and fix the lack
of safety depth before it becomes a real issue.
