The Carolina Panthers, like most NFL teams at this time of year, are doing some maneuvering to create room under the salary cap. On Friday, the team announced it had restructured the contract of right tackle Taylor Moton.
According to a report from Ellis Williams of the Charlotte Observer, the move creates approximately $11 million in cap space for Carolina. Per overthecap.com, Moton’s base salary for the 2022 season was dropped to just over $1 million, lowering his cap hit to just south of $8 million.
Moton was the team’s second-round pick in the 2017 NFL Draft, and has been starting at right tackle for the last four seasons. He has not missed a game in that time and has been one of the better players at his position. Last offseason, he signed a four-year, $72 million contract extension that keeps him in Carolina through the 2025 season, if he plays out the full length of the deal.
He’s set to count for around $24 million against Carolina’s books in each of the next three years. If he plays at a high level in 2022, it would not be surprising if he received another extension to lower his cap number again next season. Doing constant restructures and extensions, though, does make it more difficult and painful to move on from a player down the line, with bonuses and other dead money accelerating onto the cap upon trade or release.
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