4 stumbling blocks in potential Panthers trade for Jimmy Garoppolo
By Dean Jones
Carolina Panthers must make the money work
Another potential stumbling block that could prevent this trade from happening is the financial aspect. Jimmy Garoppolo is set to count $26.95 million against the salary cap in 2023 on the final year of his deal, which would max the Carolina Panthers out and prevent them from making additional moves to strengthen the roster.
Carolina freed up plenty of cash through contract restructures this offseason. They made these sacrifices for something, so acquiring a more productive signal-caller remains the most likely outcome despite Sam Darnold making a good impression in OTAs.
If the San Francisco 49ers want to get Garoppolo out of the set-up, then they will likely have to take on a portion of his salary. Especially at this stage of the offseason when teams have already made plans and allocated finances elsewhere.
According to Jonathan Alexander of the Charlotte Observer, the Panthers were not willing to pay anything more than $5-6 million of Baker Mayfield’s fully guaranteed $18.85 million. Being held to ransom is not seemingly in their train of thought, so a significant comprise needs to be reached before trade papers are filed should talks begin.
There is little doubt that Garoppolo represents an upgrade on Darnold. But the Panthers won’t want to jeopardize other opportunities by allocating so much money on the former second-round pick.