10. Carolina Panthers ($49,083,149)
How in the world did the Panthers go from a 15-1 record and Super Bowl berth to missing the playoffs and a 6-10 record?
Losing cornerback Josh Norman didn’t help. Neither did losing Luke Kuechly for a bunch of games as he recovered from a concussion. But there were plenty of other issues at play as well.
The team’s offensive line was pathetic this past year. Once Michael Oher went down with a concussion (one he’s still suffering effects from now), it was a domino effect. Cam Newton was hit. He was hit hard and he was hit often. The running game also suffered a drop-off in production compared to 2015. Oher is hopefully going to come back, but there is no guarantee there.
Mike Remmer is a free agent, and we’ll be surprised if the Panthers bring him back. He was a big liability in pass protection. With that in mind, the Panthers must aggressively pursue the top offensive tackles in this year’s market.
General manager Dave Gettleman must also find some answers at the cornerback position, both in the draft and in free agency. Thankfully he has plenty of money to work with in order to make this all happen.