Panthers clear cap space restructuring deals for Kawann Short, Trai Turner

The #Panthers cleared almost $13 million in cap space with simple restructures on the contracts of DT Kawaan Short and OL Trai Turner.

— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) September 7, 2019

According to a report by Tom Pelissero at NFL Network, the Panthers cleared nearly $13 million in cap space by restructuring the contracts of defensive tackle Kawann Short and guard Trai Turner.

Over the Cap says that Short’s cap hit for 2019 was $18 million, while Turner’s was $8,797,000.

Before these moves, the Panthers only had about $3.29 million in cap space remaining for this year.

While these types of changes are sometimes a prelude to a free agent signing or a major contract extension, it sounds like that’s not the case here. Joe Person at the Athletic reports this is more about planning for the future.

I’m told Panthers’ restructuring of Trai Turner and KK Short contracts (1st by @TomPelissero) is more about taking cap space into next year than doing any extensions right now.

— Joe Person (@josephperson) September 7, 2019

Players who can probably expect extensions next year include Shaq Thompson, James Bradberry and Cam Newton.