The Carolina Panthers are currently searching for a general manager to replace Marty Hurney, who was fired a couple weeks ago.
One of the reasons that Hurney was shown the door (again) was his questionable method of managing the salary cap. As with his first run as Carolina’s GM, Hurney handed out some player-friendly deals to positions that are not critical to success in today’s NFL, most notably huge extensions for running back Christian McCaffrey and linebacker Shaq Thompson. He also allowed cornerback James Bradberry to walk and failed to re-sign offensive tackle Taylor Moton and wide receiver Curtis Samuel.
Whoever replaces him will inherit a difficult cap situation. According to an estimate by Over the Cap, the Panthers will have $16,215,770 in cap space to work with next year.
One position group that could see a ton of turnover as a result is the offensive line. Four starters are set to become free agents in March, including left tackle Russell Okung, left guard Chris Reed, right guard John Miller and Moton. Several backups are also about to hit the market.
While Reed and Miller won’t be hard to bring back if the team is interested, keeping Moton in town is going to be an expensive proposition. If Hurney had given Moton an extension any time over the last year and a half, it wouldn’t be as bad. Now after posting an elite season in pass protection, Moton is guaranteed to cash in and will likely become the highest-paid right tackle in the league. At the moment that title belongs to Lane Johnson of the Eagles, who is earning $18 million per year.
It won’t be easy, but Carolina’s next GM has to find a way to pay Moton while still addressing a few other key spots. Cutting players like defensive tackle Kawann Short would help (the team would save $14,500,000 after June 1) but there’s not a ton of fat to trim.
Hopefully whoever they hire has a keen eye for identifying young talent, because the next phase of this rebuild will mostly have to come via the draft. Finding a new potential franchise quarterback and a respectable starter to replace Okung should be at the top of their list.
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