Team insider has bad news for Carolina Panthers FA Cade Mays

Cade Mays might've played his way out of Carolina.

Dec 14, 2025; New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; Carolina Panthers center Cade Mays (64) runs on the field before the game against the New Orleans Saints at Caesars Superdome. Mandatory Credit: Stephen Lew-Imagn Images | Stephen Lew-Imagn Images

The Carolina Panthers have several pending free agents on the offensive line. Cade Mays, Austin Corbett, Yosh Nijman, and Brady Christensen are all on the market now after the conclusion of the 2025 season.

Among them, it is easy to argue that Mays is the most important. Bryce Young seems to play his best when Mays is his center, and the Panthers love his positional versatility. He's likely one of the priorities for the team.

But center contracts are tricky, and with how well Mays played, there is, according to team insider Mike Kaye of the News & Observer, a chance he's too expensive now.

The Panthers may not be able to re-sign Cade Mays

Sep 21, 2025; Charlotte, North Carolina, USA; Carolina Panthers center Cade Mays (64) on the sidelines in the fourth quarter at Bank of America Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-Imagn Images | Bob Donnan-Imagn Images

According to Spotrac, Cade Mays is projected to sign a deal worth more than $12 million annually. That puts him behind Tyler Linderbaum and Connor McGovern among free agent centers.

Linderbaum will probably be re-signed by the Ravens, and the Bills may want to keep McGovern, too. There's a world where Mays is the best available center, and that could spark a bidding war of sorts.

This all comes back to Ikem Ekwonu's injury. Now, the Panthers need a tackle as well as a center, and they may have to go bargain-bin shopping to find the center. That would rule out a Mays reunion.

Kaye wrote, "If Mays wants a three-year, $15 million or four-year, $20 million contract, that might be hard for the Panthers to pull off, especially with the needs they have elsewhere, particularly at left tackle, outside linebacker and safety."

That is far less than the AAV Spotrac projected, so there's a chance even those estimates from Kaye are too little, making it all the more likely the center signs elsewhere.

"Mays is a quality starting center, but there’s reason to believe the Panthers might not value him to the point that they’d be willing to sacrifice a huge portion of their budget for him," Kaye added, noting that the Panthers actually cut Mays before the 2024 season and named Corbett the center at the beginning of 2025.

This could mean a draft pick spent on a center, a return for Corbett, or a mid-tier addition in free agency, someone like Ted Karras or Jordan Meredith, for example. Either way, it doesn't look great for Mays and the Panthers.

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