Panthers rank No. 26 in cap space heading into the 2020 NFL draft

Panthers general manager Marty Hurney and coach Matt Rhule have their work cut out for them.

With two days to go before the 2020 NFL draft, the team has a ton of roster holes to fill after losing several defensive starters in free agency this year and one very important one to retirement. The notion that they’ll be able to fill all of their needs in one draft class is unrealistic. Even if Hurney throws a perfect game and hits on several mid and late-round picks, there will still be a lot of work to do after the draft is over.

Another problem: there won’t be much money for him to work with. According to Field Yates at ESPN, Carolina has just $7,008,210 in salary cap space right now. That ranks No. 26 in the league.

Cap space by team entering the draft (23-32):
23. ARI: $8,933,375
24. LV: $7,690,618
25. CIN: $7,454,685
26. CAR: $7,008,210
27. PIT: $5,767,814
28. NO: $4,067,357
29. ATL: $2,232,688
30. KC: $1,475,171
31. LAR: $1,382,085
32. NE: $1,076,775

— Field Yates (@FieldYates) April 21, 2020

In other words, consider the Panthers out of the running in the Jadeveon Clowney sweepstakes – and every other free agent race.

This cap number would be problematic at any time of the year. It’s particularly rough right now as at the moment there are only 63 guys on the roster. To get even close to 90, they will have to sign a lot of undrafted free agents this weekend.