From Profootball talk

Today's rumormill:

According to a league source, the Panthers need $1.5 million in 2002 cap room in order to exhaust the remainder of the rookie pool for guys like first-rounder Julius Peppers and second-rounder DeShaun Foster.

There's still no word on whether the Panthers will try to restructure contracts before merely releasing players. Regardless, that $10 million-plus in dead money for 2002 is wreaking havoc on a team that needs all the help it can get this year.

Besides Evans and Hitch, who's the dead money?
Jeff Lewis? (after June 1 2001)
Chuck Smith? (ditto)

Christ, what a bunch of losers those guys were. We sure do suck at big dollar deals.

 

And from this AM's Observer:

General manager Marty Hurney said he's optimistic that all the draftees will be signed before training camp opens July 26 in Spartanburg.

The Panthers will have to create some salary cap room in order to pay hefty contracts to Peppers and Foster, but Hurney said he doesn't expect to have to cut any players.

 

and drafting and basically football all together

 

A bit of it is Tsimunga. A bit is Morabito. A bit for Wells. The last bit of Peter.

All the bits add up.

 

It would seem that next year, we'll be in pretty good shape.

 

That $10 million will be ours to use next year...and all the ridiculous contracts will be gone except Gilbert and Peppers (Steussie?). Peppers' contract won't hurt us as long as we don't start converting salary into bonuses.

Next year will be time to start deciding who we want to sign to long-term agreements.

 

2003 Salary increases:

Steussie - $1.5 mil
Wall - $1.2 mil
Moose - $700k
Mitchell - $500k

The big one is Giblet, who goes up $5 million
I think Giblet will get whacked.

Peppers will be quite a chunk.

Plus, the cap should go up by a few million.

Guys that will get new contracts / released:

Terry.
Nesbit.
Rucker.
Byrd.
Howard *could be an issue if he plays well / starts

It'd be nice to keep all those guys. Donnalley will be in his last year, so after that Nesbit could be 'the man'. Hopefully Jordan will show something.

 

Howard should only be RFA, along with hoover (?), Jordan, james, Towns. Navies will be FA but there shouldn't be any need for him.

 

Good to know on Howard.

 

problem is he is a good c2 fit and seems to have found PT over Vinson and Taylor - so he'll play. And he'll be RFA without compensation. And Towns - he'll be awfully highly sought after for just a 7th. We won't possibly be able to match.
Add in Navies/Jackson as UFA, and Minor should, by memory, be FA as well in some regard. So even if Witherspoon catches fire, we're gonna need some sort of LB pickup, preferably draft by 4th round so we can get a year of backup for Fields. Dammit, gotta start looking at linebackers again.