For the last two years, Taylor Moton has been a staple on the Panthers offensive line, starting every game after taking over the starting role in his second season.
But his future with the club past 2020 remains uncertain.
Moton will be an unrestricted free agent after the season ends and with the amount of roster turnover we’ve already seen since Matt Rhule has become the head coach, there are no guarantees that Moton will be back in Charlotte once his contract expires at the end of this season – that’s the kind of situation that can become distracting for a young player.
However, the right tackle who was selected in the second round of the 2017 Draft says he is just focusing on training camp and improving his craft – the contract situation will work itself out naturally.
“I have a lot of trust in my agent,” Moten said on a Zoom conference call earlier this week. “I know that I’m 100% focused on football [and] being the best Taylor Moton offensive tackle I can be. And I’m in camp and that’s what I’m worried about right now – day-in and day-out, the process of football. I’ve been told my whole life, grinding – I do what I’m supposed to do.”
“I focus on taking things one day at a time and everything else will fall into place. That’s part of trusting the process. So all I’m focused on is the next day and focused on football right now.”
Photo Credit: Brandon Todd/Carolina Panthers
After some time switching between the left and right tackle spots early in his career due to injury and being the best option on either side at times, Moton has found a home at right tackle. Moton has started 32 consecutive games for the Panthers and at 26-years-old, he could become part of the team’s future for years to come under head coach Matt Rhule.
In the past two seasons, Moton has played every single offensive snap but five.
“I think he is one of the really bright players on the team,” Rhule said. “Really, really smart player. Physical. Constantly working to get better. When I got here and watched the tape from last year, I really liked what he did last year. And the way he plays and the things he does really fit our scheme. So I’ve been very pleased with him so far.”
In an offseason where the Panthers have had massive amounts of turnover on both sides of the ball, keeping an offensive lineman like Moton on the roster would be beneficial, especially as that group continues to look for young leaders.
Moton’s final year of his rookie deal as he is set to make a base salary of just over $1 million. Judging by some of the recent right tackles who have received new contracts, Moton is in line to get a hefty raise if he plays well this season.
According to Pro Football Focus, Moton is among their best 20 offensive linemen heading into the 2020 season. Last season, Moton registered a 76.2 grade with the 13th-best grade on true pass sets since 2018 and played 121.7 pass-block snaps per quarterback knockdown – the fourth-best his the position.
Panthers new left tackle Russell Okung went as far as to say Moton was an “up and coming All-Pro tackle.”
Last offseason, the Browns signed Jack Conklin to a three-year, $42 million deal, which made him the third-highest right tackle in the NFL. The top two highest-paid right tackles are currently Lane Johnson of the Philadelphia Eagles and Trent Brown of the Las Vegas Raiders. Ja’Wuan James of the Denver Broncos is fourth on that list after he signed a four-year, $52 million deal with $32 million in guarantees during the 2019 offseason.
Moton’s 2019 PFF grade was higher than Brown and James and it wasn’t far from Conklin, who received a 77.9. One thing that could help Moton continue his play over the past two seasons is that he, along with the rest of the Panthers offensive line, could be in good shape for the grind of the season, even after a truncated offseason that had linemen unable to get the kind of workouts they wanted to because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Early indications of Matt Rhule’s practices are that he likes it fast and uptempo – Tuesday’s padded practice was almost entirely 11-on-11 drills and Moton says that will be beneficial for him and the rest of the team.
“As an offensive lineman, it puts us in better shape, which is always good, especially since we are guys out there the entire drive and we don’t get subbed,” Moton said. “So I think it is really good to make sure we are in the best condition, especially during crunch time or the fourth quarter we are out there. We can have 100% focus, because we are in better shape.”
Even if others are starting to think about the future, Moton is focused on what’s in front of him and what he can control.
