4 Carolina Panthers free agents to extend on the cheap in 2024
The new regime needs to find value in free agency this year.
By Dean Jones
Which Carolina Panthers players are worth contract extensions on the cheap providing the money is right for all parties entering free agency?
There is no time for Dan Morgan and Brandt Tilis to bask in the glory of their newfound responsibilities. The Carolina Panthers are expecting their new front-office power couple to make a strong start this offseason. Something that will be made all the easier if team owner David Tepper goes through on his promise to stay out of the football operation once and for all.
Their immediate attention will be centered on the current roster. Some established figures are looking for big money deals. Others are right on the fringes. There are a few who could be kept around if the money works.
Carolina has an exceptional salary-cap manager leading the charge in Tilis. His work with the Kansas City Chiefs gained him a strong reputation in league circles. If he can manipulate the Panthers' finances in a similarly beneficial way, it would help the cause exponentially.
A lot of hard work is ahead. Tilis and Morgan could start by extending these four Panthers free agents on the cheap.
Carolina Panthers should extend J.J. Jansen
This seems like a no-brainer if J.J. Jansen is willing to continue his illustrious Carolina Panthers career. The long-snapper is the team's longest-serving player. He's extending the record of consecutive games played for the franchise. He even held off a challenge from Thomas Fletcher after Matt Rhule inexplicably drafted the Alabama prospect in the sixth round.
Jansen has been through it all in Carolina. The veteran has experienced the good, the bad, and the ugly. Fortunately for the Panthers, his high-level production isn't wavering despite his advancing years.
If Jansen is willing - which seems entirely possible given there's been no indication of retirement as yet - the Panthers should give him another one-year deal. His locker room influence and consistency shouldn't result in anything else.