Panthers restructure contract of OL Pat Elflein

The Carolina Panthers have been posturing up for impactful roster moves all offseason. They continued to do so early Saturday afternoon, with yet another reworked deal.

After right tackle Taylor Moton and linebacker Shaq Thompson came to new terms, it was offensive lineman Pat Elflein’s turn to restructure his contract. As first reported by ESPN’s Field Yates, the Panthers opened up a little over $2.4 million more by converting $4.8 million of Elflein’s 2022 take into a signing bonus.

The Panthers converted $4.865M of OL Pat Elflein’s 2022 compensation into a signing bonus, creating $2,432,500 in 2022 cap space, per source.

Carolina continues to create cap space for this season, as they are now closing in on $30M to spend, with avenues to add even more.

— Field Yates (@FieldYates) March 12, 2022

Between these three moves, Carolina has now given themselves an extra $30 million of cap space to work with headed into free agency this week. It also, in a coincidental piece of timing, creates more space to take on a particular big-money contract of a particular big-name quarterback.

That, of course, would be Deshaun Watson of the Houston Texans—who is expected to be traded relatively soon after avoiding criminal charges on Friday. As they have for the past year, the Panthers and owner David Tepper have maintained interest in the 26-year-old passer, whose 2022 cap hit is currently projected at $40.4 million.

In Elflein’s case, the move will force Carolina to kick the can on the three-year, $13.5 million deal he signed last spring. The fifth-year veteran played in nine games in 2021, with seven starts coming at center.