Everything You Need to Know About Panthers’ Salary Cap Challenges and Solutions

The Carolina Panthers are now staring down an offseason of decisions. What will they do? How much money do they have? How can they find more money? Who's on the chopping block? Here's your answer to that and more.

Panthers' Salary Cap in 2026

According to Over the Cap, the Panthers are projected to have $28,595,225 in space this offseason. Of course, they can always get creative and make moves to clear up space, which they undoubtedly will.

Plus, the salary cap is likely to go up. It usually does. The 2025 salary cap was $279.2 million per team. Most insiders tend to agree that the 2026 cap will be between $302 million and $305 million, which only adds to Carolina's space (and everyone else's).

Regardless, they rank 14th in salary cap right now. They have only a little over $9 million in dead cap, so they're not terribly restricted. The Panthers will also likely roll over the leftover space from 2025, which is over $18 million.

A lot of the cap will be used

The Panthers have been busy the past two offseasons, and the bill is coming due more and more every year. Taylor Moton, Robert Hunt, Jaycee Horn, Tre'von Moehrig, and Derrick Brown will all make over $20 million next season.

Fortunately, Carolina does not have too many backloaded deals that are coming into play yet. They are unfortunately on the hook for Ikem Ekwonu's $17.5 million fifth-year option, but he may not even play after rupturing his patellar tendon.

Bryce Young is making $12.6 million in 2026. His fifth-year option, should they pick it up, will cost over $26 million. However, that won't apply until 2027. For now, he's very cheap, and unless they surprisingly extend him this offseason, he will stay that way.

Challenges

The problem with the Panthers is that they've spent a fair amount but still have plenty of holes to fill. They need impact free agents, but they're not exactly in cap heaven. It could be a lot worse, but they're somewhat fortunate.

This might be the most crucial year. They will soon have to pay Young upwards of $30 million, and if he continues ascending, it might be $40 or $50 million. That'll be tough to swallow. The Panthers also have to decide on Ekwonu, but he will cost them when he is extended (assuming he bounces back) as well.

Those are the only massive contract issues looming, but other challenges will arise. Soon, Jalen Coker will get paid. Mike Jackson needs an extension, and they won't get him on a two-year, $14 million team-friendly deal again.

Furthermore, the Panthers have several free agents this year, and many of them will have to be re-signed. Potential additions to the 2026 cap include:

Cade Mays
Rico Dowdle
Yosh Nijman
Christian Rozeboom
Brady Christensen
Sam Martin
JJ Jansen
Jalen Coker
Nick Scott

The good news is that they've drafted well, and those rookies who made such an impact this year are cheap and will stay cheap for a few more years. If they can draft well again, there's a good chance they can survive some of these potential issues.

Creating cap space

GM Dan Morgan is pretty good at his job, so rest assured that he will find ways to clear up cap space. There are some players who could be traded:

Xavier Legette
Ja'Tavion Sanders

To clear up $4 million, the Panthers can cut Andy Dalton. Cutting Pat Jones adds $7.5 million to the cap (similar to cutting Jadeveon Clowney last offseason). Moving on from Tommy Tremble adds $5.25 million.

What they will do

The Panthers won't do all of that, but I suspect there are a few things they absolutely will do to save money. First, consider Xavier Legette traded. The Panthers may get nothing but a seventh-round pick, but he's gone and so is his salary.

Patrick Jones will be cut, as will Tommy Tremble. The Panthers need a backup QB, so Andy Dalton is safe, but those two are expendable and will bring in almost $13 million in cap space.

They will have to avoid re-signing some players, so Nick Scott, Christian Rozeboom, and Brady Christense, who is hurt now, are gone. They will enter free agency and save the Panthers a bit. They'll also likely restructure A'Shawn Robinson and Andy Dalton.