2016 NFL offseason needs: Carolina Panthers

Free Agents Leaving

Josh Norman is, hands down, the team’s biggest free agent. Part of last season’s success stemmed from the fact that Norman evolved into a shutdown cornerback and one of the league’s most dangerous defensive backs.

Norman is set to be an unrestricted free agent and after his huge season, he will get paid handsomely. The Panthers need to loosen their purse strings and pay Norman in order to keep their defensive core intact. Outside of Norman, the rest of the cornerback depth for the team is thin.

The Panthers will have to weigh the risk of paying a guy a lot of money that is already 28 years old, but Norman has proven this season that he is worth the money and should be able to maintain his production for the foreseeable future. The Panthers are going to have some cap space to get it done, but they’ll to need to create more room in order to make more splashes than simply locking down Norman.

Another key free agent is Roman Harper, and should the 33-year-old come back it would seem likely that a deal would be pretty cheap or near the minimum. Whatever the Panthers’ free agency strategy is, it likely begins and ends with Norman.

Next: Free Agents to Target