After an 8-9 season, an NFC South title, and a narrow wild-card playoff loss to the Los Angeles Rams, the Carolina Panthers enter the 2026 offseason with real momentum. But there is also real financial pressure.
Because of incentives and escalators baked into contracts, the Panthers’ effective cap space has tightened to $12.57 million with 54 players under contract. Carolina can’t approach this offseason pretending they have flexibility. They have to create it. The most obvious place to start is their high earners, who are part of the franchise's fabric.
Robert Hunt is scheduled to carry a cap hit of $24.3 million in 2026. Now, this isn’t about cutting the imposing interior offensive lineman; the team benefits from keeping him. It’s about restructuring his contract.
Carolina Panthers can ease their salary-cap burden by restructuring Robert Hunt
A basic restructuring, converting salary into a bonus and prorating it over the remaining years, would create immediate cap relief. It pushes money forward. But you only do that when the player is firmly in your long-term plan. Hunt is.
According to Over the Cap, converting Hunt’s base salary into a signing bonus could free up roughly $11.8 million immediately. That makes a ton of sense in the circumstances.
Restructuring Hunt opens meaningful financial resources without changing the player or the plan. It keeps the offensive identity physical and stable. It allows Carolina to spend elsewhere without sacrificing the protection in front of quarterback Bryce Young.
The year before, his arrival helped cut sacks from 65 to 36 and re-establish the run game as a legitimate threat. Hunt earned a Pro Bowl nod and became one of the emotional engines of the locker room. Head coach Dave Canales has repeatedly praised the player's energy and tone-setting presence.
This isn’t kicking the can down the road recklessly. It’s aligning structure with reality. The team benefits from keeping Hunt. The player benefits from security and prorated guarantees. That mutual interest is what makes this one of the easiest cap solutions on the roster.
Young talked after the season about how thin the margin for error is in the NFL. He’s right. A slight slip in protection can undo an entire offseason of skill-position upgrades.
If Carolina wants the 2026 campaign to look like the beginning of something sustainable rather than a one-year spike, the cap must be handled early and decisively.
The Panthers’ most obvious cap solution isn’t a cut. It isn’t a splashy trade. It’s sitting at right guard.