The Carolina Panthers are entering a key season in their franchise’s timeline. They’re coming off an NFC South Division title, and Bryce Young has a chance to solidify himself as the quarterback of the future.
There is still some work to be done before Week 1 arrives, though, because of the NFL’s salary cap.
The Panthers will be at home in Week 1 on Sunday, Sept. 13 at 1 p.m. ET against the Chicago Bears.
By then, either their roster or their contracts will look at least slightly different. That’s because as of Friday, Sept. 4, the Panthers are over the NFL’s salary cap.
Panthers Salary Cap
The salary-tracking website Over The Cap shared an update Friday morning that revealed that the Panthers are over the cap by about $6 million.
There’s a key caveat: Taylor Moton is on the non-football injury list, and his cap hit is still a bit up in the air for as long as he’s out.
“As of this morning we would estimate that four teams are likely over the cap and three teams are pretty close,” Over The Cap wrote on Friday morning. “The Bears look to be about $12 million over and will need to complete some restructures before next week. The Saints and Panthers both sit about $6 million over though the Panthers number is contingent on how the league is treating Taylor Moton’s NFI status. Once healthy they would definitely need to clear room. The Lions are about $3 million over the cap.”
Moton was slated to have a base salary of more than $14 million for the 2026 season, and his cap hit was going to come in at about $21 million when factoring in his signing bonus.
If his NFI status keeps that number off the books, it’s only temporarily.
There are a lot of ways to fix this dilemma in the NFL, with the main one being to pull off a contract restructure. That essentially means that some money in a contract gets pushed off to a different year in order to accommodate this season.
The restructuring ability often helps NFL teams stay under the cap even in tricky circumstances, and it will likely help the Panthers here.
Carolina Panthers Contracts
Aside from Moton, the Panthers do have plenty of big money on the books.
They signed Jaelan Phillips this offseason for a deal worth $30 million per season.
Jaycee Horn is making $25 million per year on his well-paying extension, and Derrick Brown is at $24 million per year.
The key to the books is that Bryce Young is still on his rookie contract, with his fifth-year contract kicking in for 2027 and a long-term extension potentially aligned beyond that.
A cheap-ish quarterback can really help a team contend, and that’s what the Panthers will be hoping to do this season.
Panthers Have $6 Million Problem Before Week 1