As the Panthers prepare for free agency, their overall cap situation will be either helped or hampered by dead money and rolling over unused salary cap from last year.
As the Carolina Panthers prepare for the 2025 free agency period which kicks off on Wednesday, March 12th, the team’s salary cap position will govern their player acquisition strategy. Per Spotrac, Carolina currently has just north of $28 million in available cap space, a figure that ranks 17th in the league.
The 2025 NFL salary cap has been set at $279.2 million. Cap hits for existing players on the Panthers current roster eats away roughly $244 million of the team’s cap space, but two other numbers also factor into how much available cap the team has: the 2024 “rollover” and dead money.
Cap rollover
Panthers rollover: +$490,368
League rank: 31st
Under NFL rules, salary cap that goes unspent in a given season rolls over into the following year, giving teams more flexibility in signing players. Now, teams are required to spend at least 90% of the salary cap over a three-year period so it’s not always easy to have a rollover windfall from year to year. Additionally, the rollover amount is also only valid for the upcoming season, meaning it doesn’t compound over time.
The Carolina Panthers were only able to roll over just under $500,000 from 2024 into 2025, a paltry sum that ranks second to last in the league. This seems problematic for a rebuilding team that isn’t very competitive right now. Ideally, rebuilding teams will roll over more cap space than this into the next season. Take, for instance, the Cleveland Browns who rolled over nearly $42 million into 2025, the second highest amount in the league.
Dead money
Panthers dead cap: -$8.8 million
League rank: 20th
At a high level, teams may incur “dead money” when they trade, release, or restructure contracts for players who still have guaranteed money on their existing deals. This “dead cap” number is subtracted from the team’s total salary cap. Now, not all dead money is bad, per se. Incurring dead money can actually free up cap space on a net basis if the player has a larger cap hit than guaranteed dollars remaining on his contract when traded or released.
The Carolina Panthers are currently carrying a dead cap figure of $8.8 million which ranks 20th in the league. Approximately half of that figure is allocated to linebacker Shaq Thompson at $4.2 million, likely due to previous contract restructurings. The next two highest figures are Jonathan Mingo at $1.7 million (via trade) and Dane Jackson at $1.5 million (via release).
The Panthers have a lot of roster building to do via free agency in 2025. While their rollover was minimal, the front office has also done a good enough job keeping the dead cap number low enough that they should be able to go out and acquire some solid free agents.