5 premier free agents the Panthers could land with extra cap space

Which premier free agents could the Carolina Panthers potentially look to acquire after freeing up around $16 million in salary-cap space?

The Carolina Panthers front office has been busy this offseason as they attempt to put the roster in a position to succeed next time around. In preparation for free agency on March 14, the organization has restructured the contracts of Taylor Moton and Shaq Thompson, two of the team’s highest earners. This gives them roughly $31.3 million in cap space to work with once the window opens up.

These moves have put the Panthers into a pretty comfortable space as they look to prioritize the offensive line and get this team steered in the right direction. Carolina now has the ninth highest cap room heading into free agency, according to Spotrac.

Carolina may not be done restructuring deals. The staff could look to restructure Christian McCaffrey’s contract which could save them about $5.5 million, putting the Panthers at around $35.5 million. Whether or not the running back is willing is another story and there remains speculation he might even be traded.

This is a good first step as the Panthers look to re-tool. Now, what they do in free agency has become much more interesting as the front office could potentially make a run at some of the top-end free agents on the market.

With this in mind, let’s take a look at five premier free agents the Panthers should target now that their wallet is a little bit thicker.