Panthers Not Interested In Jarvis Landry
Jarvis Landry is on the block, but the Panthers won’t be among the teams to pursue the Dolphins wide receiver. Carolina is not interested, Joe Person of the Charlotte Observer (on Twitter) hears. Instead, the Panthers are looking for a wide receiver with more speed. 
Landry has done well for himself in the NFL, but he isn’t exactly a track star. At the draft combine four years ago, he ran the 40-yard-dash in 4.77 seconds, which is one reason why he slid to the Dolphins in the backend of the second round. Since then, Landry has tallied 400 receptions for 4,038 yards and 22 touchdowns. That’s not too shabby for a receiver without top-end speed.
The Panthers are out on Landry, but plenty of other teams are expected to explore trading for him. We learned earlier today that the Bears have interest in Landry and Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald suggests that the Niners are another team that would make sense. Salguero would also “not discount” the Titans. All three teams have needs at wide receiver and all of those clubs rank in the top ten in available cap space.
The Dolphins applied the franchise tag to Landry in October, holding him in place with a one-year, $16MM+ tender. Any team acquiring Landry is expected to hammer out a cap smoothing multi-year extension with him, but that number will factor heavily in negotiations.
Giants Expected To Target Graham Gano
The Giants are expected to pursue free agent kicker Graham Gano, according to Dan Duggan of NJ.com.
Gano, of course, would need to actually reach the free agent market before New York can go after him. The Panthers, who have employed the 30-year-old Gano for the past six seasons, are reportedly considering using the franchise tag on their veteran kicker. The franchise tender for placekickers is expected to be worth $4.604MM, a steep raise over Gano’s current $3.1MM annual salary.
Gano led the NFL in field goal conversion rate with a 96.7% success mark in 2017, and that performance earned him his first career Pro Bowl nod. In terms of advanced metrics, Gano was worth 6.3 points through his field goal and extra point work, good for eighth in the league, per Football Outsiders.
The Giants are seemingly aiming to replace Aldrick Rosas, who converted only 72% of his field goal attempts in what was his rookie campaign. New York general manager Dave Gettleman previously served in the same role for the Panthers, so he’s clearly familiar with Gano’s ability.
Latest On Panthers Sale
- Bids for the Panthers franchise haven’t yet been entered, but the sale of the club is likely to be wrapped up in time for the NFL’s spring meeting in late May, report David Newton and Darren Rovell of ESPN.com. At that point, the league’s finance committee must approve any potential deal, and 24 of the NFL’s 32 owners must vote to go forward with the sale. Presently, the only two serious contenders to purchase the Panthers from current owner Jerry Richardson are hedge fund manager/minority Steelers owner David Tepper and South Carolina businessman Ben Navarro, per the ESPN scribes.
Panthers Cut RB Jonathan Stewart
Running back Jonathan Stewart has been cut by the Panthers, according to a source who spoke with Jourdan Rodrigue of the Charlotte Observer (on Twitter). Stewart, 31 in March, has spent all ten of his NFL seasons in Carolina. 
Stewart first entered the league as the No. 13 overall pick in the 2008 draft by the Panthers. He wasn’t necessarily a superstar, but he has had a long and productive career in black and blue. In 2009, Stewart ran for 1,133 yards and ten touchdowns. In 2011, he managed to top that season in terms of efficiency with a career 5.4 yards per carry. After dealing with some injuries, Stewart nearly got his second career 1,000 yard season in 2015. He missed the mark by 11 yards as he missed three regular season games, but he did earn his first career Pro Bowl selection that year.
The Panthers inked Stewart to a one-year extension last offseason. Per the terms of the deal, the Panthers will have $3.72MM by cutting him with $1.5MM in dead money against the cap. Stewart’s release, along with this week’s cuts of safety Kurt Coleman and defensive end Charles Johnson, will create some much needed flexibility for the Panthers this offseason.
Stewart’s role was downsized a bit last year with the addition of rookie running back Christian McCaffrey. Stewart was unable to deliver as a complementary piece, turning in a career low 3.4 yards per carry average. He didn’t factor much into the passing game either with just eight receptions for 52 yards.
Salary Cap Rollover For All 32 NFL Teams
This week, the NFLPA updated its salary cap report to include the rollover amounts for all 32 teams in the NFL. The Browns, as expected, lead the league in $58.9MM in cap space rolled over from the previous season. Here is the full rundown of each team’s rollover amounts:
After the Browns, the 49ers ($56MM), Titans ($30.3MM), Jaguars ($27.8MM), and Jets ($17.3MM) boast the highest rollover amounts in the league. The Dolphins ($69K), Saints ($287K), Giants ($365K), Eagles ($514K), and the Seahawks ($547K) have the least amount of rollover. In total, teams carried over nearly $340MM from last season, good for an average of $10.6MM per club.
Minor NFL Transactions: 2/26/18
We’ll keep track of today’s minor moves here:
Cleveland Browns
- Claimed: WR Larry Pinkard (Jaguars)
Carolina Panthers
- Waived: OT John Theus
Panthers To Cut DE Charles Johnson
Shortly after releasing Kurt Coleman, Carolina will release another veteran starter from its Super Bowl team. The Panthers are planning to cut Charles Johnson, ESPN.com’s Adam Caplan reports (on Twitter).
This rumored maneuver comes a year after the Panthers re-signed the defensive end for two years and $8MM. It will create $3.25MM in cap space. They will not incur any dead-money charges because of this transaction.
Johnson has spent all 11 of his NFL years in Charlotte. The Panthers re-signed him to a mega-extension in 2011 and kept him around on an additional agreement last season. He’ll venture into the free agent market heading into his age-32 season.
Johnson started 11 games last season, missing four due to a PED-induced suspension, but did not record a sack. It marked the first time since he was a rookie that this occurred. He has 67.5 career sacks, but over the 2015-16 seasons, only 5.5 of those occurred. Johnson hasn’t produced a season with at least five sacks since he registered 8.5 in 2014.
With the releases of Coleman and Johnson, the Panthers created more than $5MM in cap space. This will push the team’s projected total north of $25MM. These cuts will also reduce the number of defensive starters from Super Bowl 50 still under contract to four. That game marked Johnson’s most recent playoff outing. He did not suit up for the Panthers’ wild-card loss to the Saints.
Panthers Release S Kurt Coleman
The Panthers will release Kurt Coleman despite two seasons remaining on the safety’s deal. Ian Rapoport of NFL.com reports (on Twitter) Carolina will cut one of its safety starters.
Coleman started three seasons for the Panthers and signed an extension in 2016. He was set to comprise $5.15MM of the Panthers’ 2018 cap. This move will tag Carolina with $2.5MM in dead money while creating $2.65MM in cap space.
Coleman’s stay in Charlotte rebuilt his value after he’d been a part-time player with the 2013 Eagles and 2014 Chiefs. He started throughout the Panthers’ Super Bowl season and signed a three-year, $15.1MM extension during the summer of 2016.
Dave Gettleman signed off on Coleman’s extension that summer, and the Panthers have gone through three defensive coordinators since that move commenced. Coleman played in 12 games last season, missing time because of an MCL sprain. He will become a street free agent — on a market that also includes another Panthers safety from Super Bowl 50, Tre Boston — in advance of his age-29 season.
The Panthers may be looking to add younger talent at this position soon. Soon-to-be 37-year-old Mike Adams was Carolina’s other primary starter at this spot last season.
Panthers Rework OT Matt Kalil’s Contract
The Panthers have reworked the contract of offensive tackle Matt Kalil by converting his $10MM option bonus into a signing bonus, according to Field Yates of ESPN.com (Twitter links).
As Yates indicates, converting an option bonus into a signing bonus doesn’t change much about Kalil’s contract, except to ensure that he receives the $10MM immediately. Additionally, while the Panthers could not recoup any portion of an option bonus were Kalil to retire or be suspended, the club could recover Kalil’s signing bonus if need be.
There was never any doubt that Kalil would be part of Carolina’s 2018 roster, as the five-year, $55.5MM contract he inked last offseason will likely keep him in the Panthers’ plans for at least two more years. Carolina would incur $20.6MM in dead money by releasing Kalil now, and $14.7MM if they wait until 2019. In both seasons, it would actually cost the Panthers more to cut Kalil than it would to retain him.
The 28-year-old Kalil is the 11th-highest-paid left tackle in the NFL on an annual basis, but he didn’t live up to that salary in 2017, as Pro Football Focus ranked him as the No. 55 tackle among 81 qualifiers. Kalil has started all 16 games in five of six NFL seasons, but he hasn’t received an above-average grade from PFF since his rookie campaign in 2012.
Person On Panthers' Offseason Plans
- Joseph Person of the Charlotte Observer takes a look at the Panthers‘ plans for the offseason, and he says Carolina will likely release DE Charles Johnson, though it is difficult to say whether Julius Peppers will be back or will call it a career. Person also does not expect Andrew Norwell to be back, so the Panthers will need to draft or sign a defensive end and a guard this offseason, and the hope is that whatever guard they acquire will also be capable of playing center.