Carolina Panthers May Regret Letting Cade Mays Sign with Detroit Lions

The Carolina Panthers' most important outgoing free agent was Cade Mays. Rico Dowdle was good, but he never seemed like a plausible return candidate, and he wasn't irreplaceable. Mays wasn't, either, but he was extremely important.

The Panthers watched him sign with the Detroit Lions in the first few hours of free agency for a pretty fair three-year, $25 million deal that Carolina curiously chose not to match. It worked out fine with the Luke Fortner signing for less than $5 million, but still.

They are two different centers, and the Panthers may, according to Jourdan Rodrigue of The Athletic, regret letting Mays go.

Why the Panthers might miss Cade Mays next season

Carolina Panthers center Cade Mays (64) calls a play during the second half of a game | Cory Knowlton-Imagn Images

The Panthers had a ton of success with their run game, partly because of how good Cade Mays was as a run blocker. Now, he's gone. Luke Fortner is probably a slightly better pass blocker, but Mays has the edge in the run game, which is Carolina's bread and butter.

That could backfire, and if Fortner doesn't match up to Mays' pass-blocking, then the Panthers could really regret it, even if they saved some money in the process.

Rodrigue said the most interesting move for the Panthers was "not coming to terms with center Cade Mays. The Panthers must run the ball well and protect the inside of quarterback Bryce Young’s pocket to get his best."

The Panthers signed an edge rusher with a career high of 8.5 sacks and two major injuries on his bill of health to $30 mollion, which was eye-opening, yet Rodrigue believes it's the lack of a Mays deal that is most perplexing.

Austin Corbett was a capable center, but Mays was better and Bryce Young had more success with Mays. Could the same phenomenon happen here? Could Fortner be a capable center but Young doesn't mesh with him and the running game suffers?

Carolina Panthers guard Cade Mays (64) against the Philadelphia Eagles | Eric Hartline-Imagn Images

It's possible, although Fortner was a good player last year for the Saints. He's not a huge downgrade from Mays, and he saved money that helped go to Jaelen Phillips and Devin Lloyd. Overall, they're in a better spot now.

Still, it's something to monitor next year. If the run game takes a step back, some will point to Rico Dowdle's exit as the main reason why, but it could be that one of their top run blockers and their starting center now resides in the NFC North.