{"id":716162,"date":"2026-01-30T09:23:28","date_gmt":"2026-01-30T09:23:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/716162\/"},"modified":"2026-01-30T09:23:28","modified_gmt":"2026-01-30T09:23:28","slug":"carolina-panthers-implored-to-splurge-on-huge-offensive-lineman","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/716162\/","title":{"rendered":"Carolina Panthers Implored to Splurge On Huge Offensive Lineman"},"content":{"rendered":"<p id=\"inline-text-0\" class=\"mt-[18px] md:mt-0 mb-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6b\">In 2024, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/nfl\/panthers\/onsi\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Carolina Panthers<\/a> remade their offensive line. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/nfl\/panthers\/onsi\/draft\/panthers-insider-pumps-brakes-ickey-ekwonu-replacement-first-round\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">They had the tackles set<\/a>, but they had to totally reshape the interior, and they spent big to do it. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-1\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6e\">They signed Damien Lewis to a $53 million deal and added Robert Hunt on a $100 million contract. They kept Austin Corbett, Brady Christensen, Chandler Zavala, and Cade Mays around on short-term deals. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-2\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6h\">Now, Corbett, Christensen, and Mays are free agents. The Panthers need some depth and need a center. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbssports.com\/nfl\/news\/landing-spots-nfls-top-50-free-agents-george-pickens\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">According to CBS Sports&#8217; Zachary Pereles<\/a>, the Panthers can spend big yet again on one talented free agent. <\/p>\n<p>Panthers predicted to sign Isaac Seumalo in free agency<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/01kg2h1va9avrswtg225.jpg\" alt=\"Pittsburgh Steelers guard Isaac Seumalo (73) against the Philadelphia Eagles  \" title=\"Pittsburgh Steelers guard Isaac Seumalo (73) against the Philadelphia Eagles  \" width=\"3362\" height=\"1891\" class=\"undefined w-full w-full blur-[5px]\" q:id=\"6t\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Pittsburgh Steelers guard Isaac Seumalo (73) against the Philadelphia Eagles  | Eric Hartline-Imagn Images<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-5\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6x\">The Carolina Panthers spend among the most in the NFL on their offensive line. They realized after 2023 that it was key to protecting Bryce Young and opening running lanes for the ground game they rely so heavily on. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-6\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"70\">In 2025, though there are tons of other holes, CBS Sports insider Zachary Pereles believes they will go after an IOL again. They don&#8217;t currently have someone who can play center on the roster.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-7\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"73\">While Seumalo is a guard, he has plenty of experience playing center, which is just like Mays and Corbett. They used both at center and guard, and could do the same with whichever of them they re-sign and Seumalo.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-8\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"76\">The Houston Texans, who are also in on Cade Mays in free agency, Seattle Seahawks, and Los Angeles Chargers were also pegged as landing spots for the Pittsburgh Steelers star. There could be a lot of demand for a strong IOL. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-9\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"79\">The Panthers certainly have a need, but it might not be their greatest need, especially if they can get Corbett, Mays, and Christensen back on relatively team-friendly deals. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-10\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"7c\">According to Spotrac, among guards, Seumalo is not that expensive. He&#8217;s projected to sign for over $9 million, which ranks him outside the top 10. David Edwards, Joel Bitonio, and others could be more costly and could have a stronger draw than Seumalo. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-11\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"7f\">If so, the Panthers could end up signing him for a slightly cheaper contract and fill a need without breaking the bank. <\/p>\n<p>&#8211; Enjoy more free Panthers coverage with Carolina Panthers on SI &#8211;<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-13\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"7l\"><a href=\"http:\/\/si.com\/nfl\/panthers\/onsi\/news\/carolina-panthers-urged-trade-massive-chicago-bears-playmaker\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Carolina Panthers urged to call Bears for huge blockbuster trade<\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-14\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"7o\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/nfl\/panthers\/onsi\/news\/former-panthers-oc-joe-brady-ascension-major-what-if\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Joe Brady\u2019s Bills hire prompts \u2018what if\u2019 questions for Panthers<\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-15\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"7r\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/nfl\/panthers\/onsi\/news\/shedeur-sanders-pro-bowl-nod-derrick-brown-exclusion-sillier\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Shedeur Sanders\u2019 Pro Bowl nod makes Derrick Brown\u2019s snub even worse<\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-16\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"7u\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/nfl\/panthers\/onsi\/news\/three-carolina-panthers-that-will-have-a-major-impact-this-offseason-01kfykq96677\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">The most impactful Carolina Panthers for the 2026 offseason<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In 2024, the Carolina Panthers remade their offensive line. They had the tackles set, but they had to&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":716163,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2075],"tags":[235,260,2567,7,6,236],"class_list":{"0":"post-716162","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-carolina-panthers","8":"tag-carolina","9":"tag-carolina-panthers","10":"tag-carolinapanthers","11":"tag-football","12":"tag-nfl","13":"tag-panthers"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/115983326757149809","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/716162","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=716162"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/716162\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/716163"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=716162"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=716162"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=716162"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}