‘Marshall Law’ Returns in Carolina?

The report from Darin Gantt of The Charlotte Observer on Monday, was that Panthers’ defensive back Richard Marshall returned to the field as Carolina and the NFL opened up OTA’s on Monday.

Of course, there’s a sort of “catch” to this, if you will. Mo’ after the jump…

The catch is, we don’t know if Marshall signed his restricted free agent tender, and having Dreu Rosenhaus as his agent would most likely signal that he didn’t sign a long-term deal, either.

Gantt reported that messages left for Rosenhaus and general manager Marty Hurney, were not returned.

So it seems that the only thing safe to assume — that’s a loaded phrase — that ws signed, is the injury protection letter, whcih allows unsigned players to workout with a team while unsigned.

Since Marshall refrained from participating in offseason workouts, you might say he’s making up for lost time, as most restricted free agents usually sign the injury protection letter at that time, and not their RFA tenders.

With the changing of certain standards due to the absence of a CBA, Marshall would have been an unrestricted free agent this year. However, with the expiration of the CBA, came a change in the way free agency is timed; thus making Marshall a restricted free agent.

Ranked the No. two “free agent” defensive back behind the Atlanta Falcons’ Dunta Robinson, Marshall’s restricted free agent tender is worth a mere $1.759 million, so he’s not happy about that. The guy’s been an asset to this team’s secondary, so I can understand the distaste in signing what might be considered by some a paltry RFA tender.

So if Rosenhaus can’t negotiate something by June 15 to keep Marshall in Carolina long-term, or Marshall doesn’t just go ahead and sign his tender, he could receive a reduced salary, as the Panthers would have the option to pay him 100% of last year’s base salary, thus offering Marshall $583,000 instead of almost $2 million.

So get ‘er done, Marshall! You’re a vital part to the team’s secondary.

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Information from this article is credited to Darin Gantt and The Charlotte Observer.

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