Or lack there of. Interesting read here.
[Panthers’ GM Dave] Gettleman referred often to the “flat cap” – the incremental increases in the cap during the first two years under the new collective bargaining agreement.
What Gettleman needed – not to mention those players entering free agency – was a hog molly of a cap increase.
Well, they got one this year, a $10 million spike up to a $133 million per team. And based on how the Panthers fared during the first week of free agency, there’s some question as to whether they were prepared for it.
Certainly the Panthers don’t look they have a particularly coherent plan in free agency this year. The idea certainly hasn’t been to sign their own free agents, as more have walked than stayed. And searching the NFL player cut-out bin for bargains, which seems to be Gettleman’s MO, is a hit-or-miss proposition.
