Carolina Panthers executive Brandt Tilis has revealed a move the team might have to make with cornerback Jaycee Horn.
The Carolina Panthers certainly splurged in free agency this offseason, handing edge rusher Jaelan Phillips a four-year, $120 million contract among making other moves.
While it's nice that the Panthers have made a significant effort to improve their chances of making a deeper playoff run next season, the salary cap is also a thing.
Right now, Carolina has just $4.8 million in cap room, which is simply not enough considering it has to sign its draft picks and also have some money leftover for emergencies and midseason additions.
Panthers executive vice president of football operations Brandt Tilis knows this.
“We are going to have to make room,” Tilis said, via Alex Zietlow of The Charlotte Observer.
But just how will Carolina go about doing that? The Panthers have already cut defensive tackle A'Shawn Robinson and traded quarterback Andy Dalton, two moves that were widely expected heading into the offseason.
Carolina also restructured the contract of star defensive tackle Derrick Brown.
Is there anything else the Panthers can do?
Well, they could always rework some more deals, and Tilis specifically cited cornerback Jaycee Horn as someone who could be restructured.
Carolina Panthers cornerback Jaycee Horn. Credit: Bob Donnan-Imagn Images.“We could convert Jaycee,” Tilis said. “We could convert a few other players if we chose. We have a few different avenues, and we’re just weighing them all.”
In other words, Carolina could convert Horn's base salary into a signing bonus, which would reduce his cap number for 2026.
The Panthers signed Horn to a four-year, $100 million contract extension last offseason, which was a record-breaking deal for a cornerback at the time. The pact will keep Horn in Carolina through 2029.
Horn has made back-to-back Pro Bowl appearances, most recently registering 37 tackles, five interceptions and eight passes defended last season.
The 26-year-old was originally selected by the Panthers with the eighth overall pick of the 2021 NFL Draft and has had difficulty staying healthy for much of his career, as he played in a grand total of 22 games over his first three seasons.
The last two years, however, Horn has been far more durable, appearing in 31 contests.
We'll see if Carolina decides to make a contract move with Horn in order to create some more cap space.
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