Panthers Retain Offensive Line Depth

The Carolina Panthers have taken some steps to insure that their offensive line depth will remain intact, according to the Gaston Gazette.

"The Panthers re-signed Jordan Gross, designated as their franchise player, to a one-year contract worth $7.455 million. Under the terms of the franchise tag, the only way Gross could have gone elsewhere would have been had another team been willing to surrender two first-round draft picks to the Panthers. That rarely happens in the NFL.Interior lineman Geoff Hangartner and Evan Mathis would have come cheaper, but no teams showed interest in signing them to offer sheets, so they too have re-signed.Hangartner will make $1.47 million this season, while Mathis will collect $927,000 if they make the team. Teams interested in Hangartner or Mathis would have had to come off the hip with a second- and third-round pick, respectively.The Panthers also re-signed linebacker Brandon Jamison, an exclusive rights free agent, to a contract.The Panthers still could sign Gross to a long-term contract, but there doesn’t appear to be any movement on that front.“We’ve tried (in the past) to get a deal done, but we haven’t been able to get it done,” Hurney said. “So right now he has a one-year deal and we’ll go from there.”Carolina’s only remaining restricted free agent still unsigned is linebacker Adam Seward, who is still awaiting an offer sheet from the New England Patriots. If the Patriots do sign him to an offer sheet and Carolina decides not to match it would receive a fifth-round pick as compensation."