Carolina Panthers wisely do not elect to use franchise tag
The Carolina Panthers made a move by, well, not making one.
Tuesday marked the day to be able to use the franchise tag designation. Many teams elected to do so. The Carolina Panthers were not one of them.
As some of you may recall, they did not use the franchise tag last season either. There was some speculation that they would use it on kicker Graham Gano, but the team signed their kicker before the deadline that Tuesday. At the time, it was sort of a relief that both sides were able to get the deal done.
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To me, the Panthers not using the franchise tag means a couple of things. First, it means that they will not use it on Daryl Williams. There was some speculation that the organization could use it on him, but that does not appear to be the case. It will be interesting to see if the two sides try to negotiate a deal before the start of free agency. Head coach Ron Rivera hinted at the possibility that both player and team may try to get a deal done before free agency. We have yet to see that happen, but there is still time of course.
Secondly, this could signal some roster turnover. The franchise tag guarantees that the player is with the team for at least one year. Although this does not this does not signify that the Panthers may part with several players, it is telling that they are willing to go into the season with no franchise tag baggage. Ultimately, that may help them improve their roster down the road.
The other factor that plays into this is the salary cap. As Tim Weaver of Pantherswire.com notes, paying Williams $14 million to stick around for one more year is detrimental to the salary cap. Carolina has a lot of needs heading into the 2019 season. Having one player take up that much cap space would put a potential damper on the team’s offseason plans. They could certainly use that $14 million in other areas to improve the team. After a losing season, there is no reason that money could not be spent elsewhere.
Not using the franchise tag means that the Carolina Panthers are (hopefully) thinking about the team in the long-term. They need to fill some holes on the roster. Having for example that $14 million that Williams would have taken with the tag is a bonus. Oftentimes the franchise tag is a lot of money for only one player. Although it may not seem ideal to some, this was the right move for the Carolina Panthers.