Carolina Panthers: How defense salaries look with NFL’s escrow proposal

How much money will members of the Carolina Panthers defense be making if the NFL’s escrow proposal is approved?

Things have the potential to get out of hand quickly across the NFL if the current escrow proposal manages to get over the line. League officials are recommending each player takes a 35 percent deferral due to the current climate for 2020. And any backdated pay will be distributed once things get back to some semblance of normal.

The Carolina Panthers do not have that much invested in their defensive players in 2020. But this is a situation that could change next spring providing some influential figures live up to their expectations. They also have only one player from their historic NFL Draft class signed at the present time. But this is a situation that should speed up in the coming weeks before training camp.

A possible season with little or no fans in the stands is now almost certain. The Kansas City Chiefs recently announced their intention to have Arrowhead Stadium at a reduced capacity. And this was swiftly followed by a similar statement of intent from the Baltimore Ravens, who will limit in-stadium crowds to 14,000.

This might be something of a blow to NFL owners. But the real money is with their TV contracts. It is therefore essential that the campaign goes according to plan no matter what in order to avoid further financial complications down the line.

Here is what the prominent members of Carolina’s defense will make if this proposal is approved for the upcoming season.

Carolina Panthers Player No. 1: Kawann Short (DE) – $12.5 million base – $8.12 million with reduction

This is the penultimate year of Kawann Short’s mammoth deal with the Carolina Panthers. The defensive tackle will count $20.8 million against the salary cap in 2021. And it appears highly unlikely the Pro Bowler will be kept around at that sort of price.

Short is coming back from a torn rotator cuff injury that ended his 2019 season early. And he would be sacrificing a tremendous amount in salary until a later date if the escrow is approved. The player is Carolina’s highest earner on defense by a considerable margin. But whether his play will reflect this remains to be seen.