Taylor Moton Still Not Ready to Enter Contract Talks with Panthers

There are still four games remaining on the Carolina Panthers 2020 regular season schedule, but the offseason will be here before you know it and Panthers GM Marty Hurney will be faced with many tough decisions.

According to overthecap.com, the Panthers will have roughly $20 million to work with in cap space this offseason. But as Darin Gantt of Panthers.com mentioned in his most recent article, roughly half of that will be used on draft picks and grievances. Needless to say, there's not going to be much room to make a big splash in free agency or retain both wide receiver Curtis Samuel and right tackle Taylor Moton. Mathematically, it could be done but it would likely mean one of the two would be taking a hometown discount and I don't foresee that happening with both being able to control their future for the first time since entering the league.

Earlier this season, Moton said that he and the Panthers had not discussed any contract extensions and to this day, that has not changed.

"I'm not focusing on contracts right now," Moton said Wednesday afternoon. "I'm just focusing on right now going 1-0 against the Broncos and just being the best player, the best Taylor Moton that I can be because that's all I can control right now. That's what's most important for myself and the team, so I'm just taking it one day at a time and trusting the process."

Moton is piecing together one heck of a season and is currently graded as the top right tackle in the entire National Football League by Pro Football Focus with an 82.6 grade. It seems like each week Moton continues to get better and better and if you look at his last three games, he has not allowed a single pressure.

The offensive line is an area the Panthers are going to have to improve in the offseason whether it be through the draft, free agency, or trade. The unit as a whole has been very inconsistent and at times, has really hurt the efficiency of the offense. However, Moton has been the one that kept everything from completely hitting the fan.

Re-signing Moton has to be a priority for Marty Hurney and he's going to have to be willing to spend a good chunk of change to do so. This is no slight to Curtis Samuel because he himself has had a fantastic season, but a top of the line offensive tackle is hard to come by. The Panthers have two No. 1 caliber receivers in DJ Moore and Robby Anderson. Aside from Moton, the Panthers have zero stability on the offensive line in my opinion, which makes the decision rather easy for Hurney.

The only question will be whether or not Moton wants to be a key piece of Carolina's rebuild or if he wants to slide off to a potential Super Bowl contender.

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