The Panthers are guaranteed to lose some of the players they had on the roster in 2018 – some will be by choice as they decide to move on, some will be due to outside factors and some will simply choose not to return; before they can go out and bring in free agents from other teams or even fill holes on their roster through April’s draft, they’ll need to make decisions about players on their own roster. Here are the players facing free agency in 2019:
Restricted Free Agents: Unlike an unrestricted free agent who can either re-sign with their current team or test the open market and go elsewhere, restricted free agents are tied down unless a team allows them to become an unrestricted free agent; these players can negotiate with other teams, but the Panthers will get to match any contract offer – without getting too complicated, the Panthers will have the right of first refusal on the following players:
- WR Damiere Byrd
- QB Taylor Heinicke
- TE Chris Manhertz
- LB Jared Norris
Exclusive Rights Free Agents: Even more restricted than the above category – essentially, if the Panthers tender an offer to the following players by March 13, they’ll be coming back to Charlotte. If the Panthers don’t offer them a deal, they can sign with any other team.
- RB Elijah Hood
- DE Efe Obada
- S Damian Parms
- DE Bryan Cox Jr.
Unrestricted Free Agents: These players can begin negotiating with teams on March 11th – although backdoor negotiations will likely have been happening for months already. Contracts can officially be signed with teams other than the Panthers on March 13th.
- T Daryl Williams
- S Colin Jones
- S Eric Reid
- DT Kyle Love
- LB Thomas Davis
- DE Wes Horton
- LB Ben Jacobs
- DE Julius Peppers
- G Amini Silatolu
- RB Fozzy Whittaker
- LB David Mayo
- T Marshall Newhouse
- T Chris Clark
- S Mike Adams
- RB Kenjon Barner
- RB Cameron Artis-Payne
- RB Travaris Cadet
- K Chandler Catanzaro
- WR Devin Funchess
- C Ryan Kalil
