The Panthers have signed cornerback Eli Apple to a one-year, $3 million contract according to a report by Ian Rapoport at NFL Network. The deal includes a $750,000 signing bonus.
Carolina will be the third team that Apple has played for since he was drafted in 2016. Between the Giants and the Saints, he’s played 48 games so far. While his pro career has seen some ups and downs, this pricetag is small enough to qualify as a low-cost, potentially high-reward kind of a move by the Panthers. As long as Apple isn’t an absolute disaster starting at left cornerback, it’s a good deal.
As cheap as it is, Apple’s contract eats up pretty much everything that was leftover of the team’s 2020 salary cap space. Earlier in the week, Over the Cap’s estimate of the Panthers’ space was just $3,255,202.
If they’re going to sign anybody else this season, they’ll have to make some cuts.
