Room to work

[Sir Purr]

The team has two premier free agents atop next year's class of unrestricted free agents — right tackle Taylor Moton and wide receiver Curtis Samuel — and Suleiman was frank when asked about their futures.


"It would definitely be difficult to retain both of them, with the cap situation being what it is," he said.


Moton is a priority, and using the franchise tag to keep him if they can't reach a long-term deal remains an option. Considering the relative scarcity of known commodities on the offensive line for 2021 and beyond, losing him would be a significant blow. The Panthers know that, and so does Moton's agent.


And while the Panthers are in the middle of the pack in terms of 2021 cap room, some teams will have to make major moves to get into compliance by the start of the league year in March. If the salary cap stays at $175 million, the Saints will have to cut more than $90 million worth of space to even start the league year. That's the direst situation, but the Eagles (nearly $70 million), Falcons ($37 million), Steelers ($30 million), Packers ($24 million), Rams ($24 million), and Chiefs ($23 million) are also substantially over the cap already.


Suleiman was with the Steelers until this offseason, and he knows first-hand how the win-now mentality of successful teams manifests itself in the future.


"The teams that are so far over are all-in, or what they believe to be in, their Super Bowl window. So they've been aggressive," he said. "In Pittsburgh, there wasn't talk about the future, it was always right now. Year in, year out, (general manager) Kevin Colbert was about that year.


"When you're in that situation, there's always the temptation to keep the band together instead of making difficult decisions. Eventually, the bill comes due."


Those bills came due for the Panthers this year when they hit reset on the roster and absorbed the big cap hits in 2020. In the future, there are specific factors that make the building process easier for the Panthers, from Suleiman's point of view.