Carolina Panthers Free Up Over $10 Million With Disappointing A'Shawn Robinson Cut

The Carolina Panthers officially cut defensive lineman A'Shawn Robinson on Tuesday. The move was purely cost-saving, as it saves the Panthers $10.5 million against the cap for the 2026 season. They have until Wednesday at 4 pm ET to get under the cap.

The Panthers release DL A’Shawn Robinson to create $10.5 million in cap space.
— David Newton (@DNewtonespn) March 10, 2026

This was always pretty necessary, but the Panthers enhanced their need after signing Devin Lloyd and Jaelan Phillips. Phillips cost $30 million a year, and Lloyd is at $15 million. Each figure dwarfs the salary cap space the Panthers came in with.

They opted to punt the cuts and restructures down the line, figuring that it'd be smarter to make those moves after they've made other moves. That way, the front office would know what they needed to free up rather than just making blind moves to open up space they may not need.

Why A'Shawn Robinson's cut is disappointing

Carolina Panthers defensive end A'Shawn Robinson (94) looks on before the game | Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images

A'Shawn Robinson was better than the casual fan might think. He was a solid run defender and had a breakout as a pass rusher with higher volume in 2024, when Derrick Brown was hurt. He was the starting nose tackle.

Losing a player like that is always unfortunate, but when it's to save $10.5 million and make space for two dominant defenders in free agency, it makes sense. It's just disappointing, because now the Panthers have a different hole and are losing a good player.

It's also disappointing that they get nothing for Robinson. He probably immediately becomes one of the best IDL free agents in a very depleted market. He could've been a nice trade piece if the timing were better.

Because the NFL world knew the Panthers would probably have to release Robinson, no one bit on a potential trade even after the Panthers made him available. Cut candidates like that rarely get traded since GMs don't want to part with assets for someone they could sign outright soon.

Robinson will land somewhere and be an unheralded, impactful player, just like he was with the Panthers. Unfortunately, this is only one of a few major moves the Panthers need to make.

Even clearing up $10.5 million doesn't fix the problem. That puts them roughly over $20 million in cap space, while they needed to clear up a total of $52.5 million for the three free agents (Kenny Pickett, Devin Lloyd, and Jaelan Phillips) signed yesterday.

There's still work to be done. Meanwhile, the IDL market just got infused with a player who could have a sneakily hot market really soon.