Latest Mock Draft Spells Doom for Rising Panthers Free Agent

The Carolina Panthers have a lot of needs to address in free agency and/or the draft. Center might not be the most high-profile need, but it's one that the Panthers absolutely have to address.

They can re-sign Cade Mays, the incumbent hybrid IOL who has been very solid for them. He might cost, and he's not a true center, which might lead them to the draft.

That's where Chad Reuter's mock comes into play. The NFL analyst predicts the Panthers will trade up for Rueben Bain Jr. in round one, but in round two, they make a pick that spells doom for Mays.

NFL mock draft would see end of Cade Mays' time with Panthers

Iowa Hawkeyes offensive lineman Logan Jones (65) celebrates a win | Ross Harried-Imagn Images

In the second-round of Chad Reuter's mock, the Panthers spend the 51st pick on Iowa center Logan Jones to finally add a true center.

This can really only mean two things. Sure, depth is a thing, but with all the needs the Panthers have, they are not about to spend a second-round pick on someone they think is going to sit the bench all year.

The first thing this could mean is that the Panthers haven't re-signed Cade Mays. Free agency happens before the draft, so if the Panthers are taking a center, it's probably because they didn't bring back the former starter.

The alternative isn't better for Mays. Since free agency happens a month before the draft, maybe the Panthers did re-sign Mays. However, if they're spending a second-round pick on a true center, then the rookie's going to be the starter.

The Panthers like Mays, and he is a versatile and valuable lineman. Having him as a backup would be good, but that's what he'd be.

The Panthers have two star, high-paid guards in Robert Hunt and Damien Lewis. Mays won't start over them, and if the Panthers draft a true center, he won't start there, either.

Mays has been a nice find for the Panthers, and he's provided a cheap, solid, versatile option for injuries and for lack of good players up front over the last couple of seasons.

Still, with interest in him from a league-wide perspective rising in free agency and the chance to draft a real center and not a guard hybrid, Mays' run with the Panthers, at least as a starter, could well be over if this is the pick.

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