No NFL team has less salary cap room than the Panthers heading into the 2024 season

The Carolina Panthers have been the NFL’s busiest team over the past week. After cutting their roster from 90 to 53 players, they’ve been more active than anyone on the waiver list, and since then, they’ve been reshaping and reshaping their practice squad again and again.

The Panthers aren’t done working ahead of the regular season opener, which is next Sunday, when the Panthers visit division rival New Orleans Saints. Head coach Dave Canales told reporters Thursday that the team is still exploring a few options on the edge.

One of the free agents the Panthers are eyeing is former Detroit Lions defensive end Charles Harris, who visited the team earlier this week. While signing Harris at this point in his career wouldn’t cost too much, the Panthers are going to have to get creative in the coming days to stay under the salary cap.

Right now, they’re about $7.5 million over the cap, according to Over the Cap. That’s by far the worst salary cap situation in the league right now, with the Baltimore Ravens sitting second with a salary cap of -$3.8 million.

The good news is that general manager Dan Morgan has a few options to create more room under the salary cap. For one, an extension for right tackle Taylor Moton would get them out of the red and also give them the space to make another big signing — OTC says a Moton extension could save Carolina up to $13 million for the 2024 season. Extending receiver Diontae Johnson is another move that would go a long way toward closing that gap — his extension would save the team up to $7.1 million.

There are also a few trades the Panthers could explore that would also free up cap space — trading running back Miles Sanders would save about $3.27 million, and sending away veteran receiver Adam Thielen could save another $3.249 million.

If Morgan doesn’t feel like doing something that dramatic, he could use a common strategy NFL executives use to create cap space: converting players’ base salaries into signing bonuses. That’s what the Cleveland Browns did with Deshaun Watson on Thursday, creating $38.5 million in cap space. Cleveland now has the most cap space in the league, with more than $51 million in total.

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