How the Panthers Just Cleared Over $13 Million in Cap Space

The Carolina Panthers almost immediately made two major signings in free agency, agreeing to terms with Devin Lloyd ($15M salary) and Jaelan Phillips ($30M salary). They entered with a little over $10 million in salary cap space.

Obviously, those two numbers don't add up, and the Panthers have until today at 4 pm ET to clear up the rest of the space. They will undoubtedly do it by getting creative, releasing players, and messing with the terms of the new contracts to backload money.

The #Panthers converted $16.9M of DL Derrick Brown's salary into signing bonus, adding 2 void years, clearing $13.5M of cap space in 2026.

Updated Cap Hits
2026: $10.9M
2027: $31.3M
2028: $32.3M
2029: $6.6M (void)
— Spotrac (@spotrac) March 11, 2026

Yesterday, they managed to clear up $10.5 million by sadly cutting A'Shawn Robinson. They have just added another $13.5 milliion to the tally by converting $16.9 million of Derrick Brown's annual salary into a signing bonus. This is standard fare for GMs.

Now, Brown's massive extension will cost the Panthers $10.9 million this season. In 2027, though, things get a little more dicey. The cap hit jumps to $31.3 million and then increases by another million in 2028.

The team did add two void years, one of which is 2029 and costs them $6.6 million. This isn't an uncommon thing, but the Panthers may once again find themselves in cap trouble next year when the Brown cap hit is big again.

What else can the Panthers do?

Carolina Panthers tight end Tommy Tremble (82) runs to score a touchdown against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers | Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images

If you're keeping track, the A'Shawn Robinson cut and the Derrick Brown restructure have pushed the Panthers to over $34 million in cap space. That's pretty good, except that they had already spent most of it.

Agreeing to terms with Devin Lloyd, Kenny Pickett, and Jaelan Phillips on day one cost the Panthers $49 million. $49 million is still more than $34 million, so the Panthers aren't done yet. They've also signed other players to small contracts, like Luke Fortner and Isaiah Simmons.

They can do a similar restructure for Jaycee Horn to convert some cap space. They can also cut a few veteran players:

Andy Dalton ~ $2 million
Pat Jones ~ $5 million
Tommy Tremble ~ $6 million

Extending Mike Jackson and Damien Lewis would also free up over $10 million in cap space, so the Panthers have moves they can make. They have to do so before 4 pm ET today, so expect a flurry of financial moves more so than any free agency signings.

They could also restructure other contracts, but Horn's contract is the biggest besides Brown's and is the easiest to rework into a signing bonus.