The Carolina Panthers paid for a major upgrade along their defensive line this week by signing former Tampa Bay Buccaneers tackle Gerald McCoy. From a pure football perspective, it’s impossible not to like the move. However, there are a few important questions raised by the acquisition that need to be answered.
Here’s three questions to remember for the rest of the offseason.
1. How much defensive line spending is too much?
Good football move or not, signing McCoy pushes the Panthers’ defensive line spending into borderline ridiculous territory. According to Spotrac, Carolina has allocated $58.62 million for the unit. That’s over $12 million more than the Rams, who rank second in the league in DL spending. That number also represents 30.48 percent of the team’s total cap.
There’s no question the Panthers needed to upgrade the unit after a disappointing 2018 season, and they’ve done that. It’s worth asking if they have gone too far, though. In order to justify spending this much, the defensive line absolutely has to be one of the NFL’s elites, if not the best.
2. What does it mean for the other DTs on the roster?
McCoy joins the defense at a major moment of change. Not only are they moving on without veterans like Thomas Davis and Julius Peppers, they’re also transitioning to a hybrid defense that includes some 3-4 alignments. Most likely, McCoy will join Kawann Short and Dontari Poe as the starters up front in those new three-man sets. That means every other defensive tackle is much more expendable now.
Poe’s salary might make him a good candidate to trade, but it sounds like the team plans to keep him around at least another year. Kyle Love just re-signed for 2019 so he’s also probably safe.
The player most likely to be moved is former first-round pick Vernon Butler, who is entering the final year of his rookie deal. While he’ll only cost the team a couple million if he stays, this would be a good time to take advantage of the surplus of interior depth and deal him for a late-round pick.
3. Are the Panthers done making moves?
Finally, the biggest question may be this: do the Panthers believe their work is done for the offseason? It certainly would not be a surprise if that’s the case. General manager Marty Hurney has done a brilliant job of addressing the team’s needs, with one notable exception.
On Wednesday, the team signed former Buccaneers cornerback Javien Elliott, who should take Captain Munnerlyn’s old role in the slot. With that hole filled, there’s only one more significant shortcoming on the roster.
If the Panthers sign another veteran safety to pair with Eric Reid, they can call it a day and congratulate themselves for having as good of an offseason as anybody could have hoped for.
