The Carolina Panthers have released 9 year veteran DE Charles Johnson from the team on Thursday.
Johnson, a 3rd round draft choice from the University of Georgia in 2005 has played his entire career in Charlotte.
GM Dave Gettleman spoke on the release: “His statistics speak for themselves, and as a team captain he led the way you want your leaders to lead – by example.”
The Panthers clear an estimated 11 million in cap room by releasing Johnson on Thursday. The team will now have over 24 million in cap room even after tagging star CB Josh Norman earlier in the week. Johnson would have counted 15 million towards Carolina’s cap number in 2016 if he was on the roster at the beginning of the new NFL calendar year in a few weeks.
Rumors had spread that the team may be willing to make a tough decision and let Johnson go in order to avoid his extremely high cap number for 2016 due to limited production and injuries over the past two seasons.
With Johnson being cut and Jared Allen retiring, the Panthers will look to add DE depth. Kony Ealy, who had a monster game in Super Bowl 50 will be expected to man one DE position. The Panthers had former DE/OLB Quintin Coples in for a visit on Wednesday. Coples left Charlotte without a contract in place, but he may be in Carolina’s future plans.
Another option may be to bring in North Carolina native DE Mario Williams depending on his asking price. Williams was released by the Buffalo Bills earlier in the week. Using a high draft pick on a player such as Clemson defensive end Kevin Dodd or Oklahoma State’s Emmanuel Ogbah may also be an option if they are still available at Carolina’s pick (30)
The release of Johnson is the third long tenured, popular player release in as many seasons for Gettleman and the Panthers. In 2014 the team cut ties with popular WR Steve Smith. In 2015 the Panthers decided to part ways with Deangelo Williams. And this year, its Johnson. All three had begun to show decline in their play, although both Williams and Smith have shown sparks with their new teams.
Johnson finishes his tenure with the team 2nd in career sacks for the franchise and forced fumbles.
