Do you think last year’s Panthers team was good enough to win the Super Bowl? Do you think that injuries to Curtis Samuel and Damiere Byrd were ultimately what cost the Panthers not only a victory over the Saints in the divisional round, but perhaps three more victories en route to a Lombardi trophy?
If that’s your stance, then you are probably one of the many fans clamoring for the Panthers to either resign or assign the franchise tag to Andrew Norwell. However, if you don’t think the Panthers were good enough last year, you may want to reconsider your thoughts on Norwell, because resigning the big man will be asking the team to take another run at a championship with a very similar roster; bringing back the All-Pro guard will all but eliminate the opportunity to make additions to the roster through anything but the draft.
Let’s see how the hypothetical situation plays out.The Panthers have between $18 and $20 million dollars in cap room as the books stand, and can open up about $7m more by cutting the following long-time Panthers: Jonathan Stewart, Charles Johnson and Fozzy Whittaker. Let’s say goodbye to Russell Shepard as well, because we’re ruthless, this is a hypothetical and in this hypothetical, let’s say that Ryan Kalil takes less money in his final year to bring his cap hit down to just over $5m. Now we’ve opened up the cap space by around $13m, plenty of room to sign Norwell and a top-tier wide receiver and maybe one of those cap casualties we keep hearing about, right?
Wrong.
Let’s say Norwell costs $14m a year, which is what his franchise tag would be, and most likely what he will get on the open market since Kevin Zeitler got five years and $60m from the Browns last year and Norwell is poised to become the highest paid guard in NFL history. Then we’ll assign $5-$6m for the incoming rookies, who are on a fixed salary scale; the team still needs to sign a punter and kicker, who will probably add up to $4-$5m if they don’t end up resigning Gano, who may cost that much by himself. Add in a similar deal for Peppers if he decides to come back which will be about $4m and don’t forget about Damiere Byrd, who will get about $1m (which is a steal, but it all adds up).
And that’s it. We’re at the cap.
That’s it. No room for Star Lotulelei. Or Sammy Watkins. Or Allen Robinson. Or Malcolm Butler or Ziggy Ansah or any other splashy free agent signing; the team will basically be the same team, with a fully healthy Cam Newton and Kalil Brothers, a fresh draft class, some returning injured players including Corn Elder, Daeshon Hall and the two speedy wide receivers. That may be enough, the Panthers certainly came close last season, but it may come down to either Norwell or an upgrade at two skill positions.
Norwell is a special player, there is no doubt about that, and many will argue that the start of a great team is in the trenches on the offensive line, but the decision concerning Norwell may have been made last July when the Panthers gave Trai Turner a four-year, $45m extension; the same could also be said for Star Lotulelei and Kawann Short’s even larger deal. Unfortunately, in today’s NFL, teams have to pick and choose which positions to spend money on and which to try and employ with inexpensive, younger talent; let’s not forget that the Panthers spent a second-round pick on offensive lineman Taylor Moton in 2017.
“I’m not a tackle; I’m a football player. Wherever the team most needs me, that’s where I am,” Moton told Panthers.com last week. “This offseason, I’ll take tackle sets, guard sets and I’ll be snapping the ball. I’ll feel comfortable wherever they decide to throw me in.”
Bringing back Norwell and essentially taking a do-over on the 2017 season is certainly an option, the Panthers were expected to compete for a Super Bowl last year, and very well may have with a fully healthy roster; but to think that the Panthers can have a dream offseason where Norwell comes back along with a big-name free agent is not realistic; an extra $14m gives a lot of roster flexibility that the Panthers will not have if Norwell returns.
