You know when you have a big bounty on your head, sooner or later someone will hunt you down. I mean it’s pretty hard to ignore the financials when you have the trigger in your hand. BAM! And there you go, you have what you had been aiming for. So, with that thought in mind, the Panthers pulled the trigger on someone they had just heavily rewarded a few seasons ago. But now they thought, why not move on from him and salvage what they can—financially.

See, the Panthers have just announced the release of veteran running back Miles Sanders. And guess what? His exit is not at all surprising. You could say it was something the Panthers were expected to do sooner or later, considering how big of a cap casualty he was. Cutting Sanders before June 1st saves the Panthers $5,225,000 in cap space. But that comes with a dead money hit under $3M. If not before June 1st, designating him with a post-June 1st cut will save the Panthers $6.7M.

Well, actually, there’s more to just the financial implications surrounding Sanders’ departure. Let’s just say his time in Charlotte was a long, hard fall, he probably won’t ever recover from. Coming off a 2022 Pro Bowl campaign with the Eagles, Sanders was handed a 4-year, $25.4M contract. Like he was expected to be a huge piece to former Panthers’ head coach Frank Reich’s offense. But it didn’t turn out the way neither Sanders nor Reich would have hoped for…

Reich lasted for 11 games, and Sanders eventually lost his place to Chuba Hubbard. Yes, he played in 16 games in 2023 but only started 5 out of them. And come 2024, Sanders’ time in Carolina took an even worse turn. Suffering from an ankle injury, he was limited to just 11 games, starting 2 of them. Well, hold on, actually, there’s more to Sanders’ downfall. Or you could say freefall in Carolina. The moment the Panthers gave Hubbard a massive 4-year, $33.2M extension. Miles Sanders’ exit from the Panthers was just a ticking bomb waiting to explode.

Once the free agency came rolling, Dave Canales ditched him within 2 years of his $25.4M contract. At this point, it’s pretty sad to see what Sanders’ career has spiralled into. But he surely would be hoping he can restart his career yet again somewhere else. Still only 27, Sanders has a lot ahead of him. Let’s hope he can turn his freefall to a Comeback Player of the Year nominee come 2025. Moving on from Sanders, the Panthers have been pretty busy this offseason filling holes in their roster. So, let’s look at some of the pieces they have added or retained for next season.

Tracking Carolina Panthers offseason signings

After an abysmal 2024 season where the Panthers had the worst-ranked run defense in the league, it’s not a surprise they are busy bringing in defensive reinforcements. Their first big signing came through former Chiefs DT Tershawn Wharton. He is coming off a breakout, which saw him rack up 6.5 sacks in the Chiefs’ D-line. Penning a 3-year, $54M contract, Wharton is almost certain to be lining up next to Pro Bowler defensive end Derrick Brown.

Well, moving away from the trenches into secondary, the Panthers have re-signed Michael Jackson. Nope, not the one that taught us moon walk. This one is a monstrous cornerback coming off a 17 pass deflections year playing over 1,200 defensive snaps. Actually, he is not the only one the Panthers chose to retain in their secondary. Carolina gave a whopping 4-year, $100M extension to Jaycee Horn, thereby making him the highest-paid defensive back in NFL history.

One other huge name they have added to their defense is safety Tre’von Moehrig from the Raiders. Moehrig is coming off an incredible 2024 season in Vegas. Racking up 104 tackles, a sack, and two INTs. So, it remains to be seen how well the Panthers’ defense performs once the 2025 campaign comes around. Surely, they won’t be the worst-ranked defense again. If they do with this crop of players, it will be some achievement, you know. Something the Panthers wouldn’t dare wish for.