This current quiet time for the Carolina Panthers represents the calm before the storm. With free agency set to begin on Monday, the team will have to make a series of moves at some point this weekend to free up some salary cap space ahead of the new league year.
For now, the Panthers are content to take care of some smaller orders of business. On Friday, the team made a pair of moves that won't exactly make national headlines, but nevertheless secures some much-needed depth at two of the weakest position groups on their roster going into the 2025 campaign.
Specifically, the Panthers have tendered backup offensive lineman Cade Mays at the price point of $3.41 million. They have also re-signed exclusive rights free agent defensive lineman LaBryan Ray.
Mays wasn't expected to see much playing time going into last season, but thanks to Austin Corbett's arm injury he wound up seeing extensive snaps as Carolina's starting center.
In the end he started eight games, playing just under 500 snaps. He did relatively well, too - earning solid grades in run blocking (74.9) and pass blocking (66.9) from PFF. His 66.1 overall grade ranked 20th at the position.
Nevertheless, the Panthers seem to prefer starting Corbett at center in 2025. They recently pushed back a deadline on hs contract from March 1 to March 11, buying themselves more time to hammer out a new deal. If they can't come to an agreement with Corbett before then he'll hit the open market, which might put Mays in the driver's seat to start in 2025.
With Derrick Brown out for practically the entire year, LaBryan Ray wound up getting more snaps than usual, starting nine games for the Panthers. He only totaled one sack and two quarterback hits during his time on the field. With Brown expected to return healthy and the team likely to draft an iDL prospect early, Ray will likely return to a rotational role next season.
