Panthers plan to release center Bradley Bozeman: 3 thoughts on the impending roster move

The Carolina Panthers will have a new starting center in 2024.

The team plans to release center Bradley Bozeman this week, a league source confirmed. NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport was the first to report the impending roster move.

Bozeman is due a $1.5 million roster bonus on Saturday. By releasing him before that payout deadline, the Panthers will avoid paying the bonus.

Bozeman’s release will save just $360,000 in salary cap space for the Panthers, according to Over The Cap. It’ll leave $7.28 million in dead money penalties on the cap. Bozeman’s $4 million salary is guaranteed but has off-set language if he signs a contract with another squad this season.

Bozeman, 29, signed a 3-year, $18 million deal with the Panthers last offseason. He originally signed with the Panthers on a 1-year deal in 2022 and worked his way into the starting lineup during former interim head coach Steve Wilks’ 12-game tenure. Bozeman was a catalyst for the Panthers run-first offense under Wilks, who went 6-6 during his interim tenure but was not retained.

Bozeman was named the Panthers’ Walter Payton Man of the Year award nominee this past season. Bozeman and his wife, Nikki, became heavily involved in charitable initiatives with their foundation immediately upon arrival in Charlotte. The foundation worked with Second Harvest to fight food insecurity and co-hosted 1,200 children and their families — along with Panthers owners David and Nicole Tepper — for the Bozeman Thanksgiving Bash in November of last year.

Bozeman’s departure creates an even bigger hole on the interior offensive line. However, as The Charlotte Observer wrote about last week, the center position was the main avenue for improvement within an offensive line that tied for allowing the second-most sacks in the NFL last year.

Here are three thoughts on the move:

Panthers likely to get younger, more athletic at center

Bozeman wasn’t a great fit for the Panthers’ new wide-zone run blocking approach under new head coach Dave Canales. Bozeman is an old-school road-grading center with limited second-level mobility. The Panthers clearly saw that last season in the mid-zone-heavy scheme brought in by former head coach Frank Reich.

With Bozeman set to turn 30 in November, the Panthers likely saw this as a way to get younger and more athletic on the line. Bozeman is a great fit for a run-heavy system, and while Canales said he plans to be stubborn with using the run game, this offense is expected have a quick attack passing approach.

Carolina taking its medicine now

Eating a lot of dead money for Bozeman isn’t necessarily ideal, but the Panthers are doing this the right way. Under new EVP of football operations Brandt Tilis, the Panthers are taking their lumps now, instead of hurting themselves in the future.

The Athletic has reported that the team plans to release tight end Hayden Hurst, who would only save roughly $52,000 with a release. He will leave $9.86 million in dead money on the cap this year, but the Panthers can move on from his salary in 2025 if he’s not designated a post-June 1 release.

Cutting veterans who don’t fit into the long-term plans, despite the immediate financial penalties, is a way to justify a cleaner slate for a rebuilding process. It wouldn’t be surprising to see several moves like this over the next week or so as Canales and Morgan look to build the team in their own image as a new regime.

Avoiding contract restructuring — a device used heavily in the Matt Rhule and Frank Reich eras — will prevent the Panthers from being limited in cap space in future years.

Pretty strong replacement options await

It’s a good time to need a center. Both the free agency and draft classes are full of options to explore, depending on how the Panthers want to attack the need. Incumbent linemen Cade Mays and Austin Corbett are also capable of playing center if the Panthers decide to rework the line even further.

The free agency market at center is packed. Lloyd Cushenberry III, Evan Brown, Connor Williams and Tyler Biadasz are all younger and more athletic than Bozeman. While they all might fetch bigger contracts, their athleticism and youth make them worthwhile targets.

In the draft, Wisconsin’s Tanor Bortolini, N.C. State’s Dylan McMahon, Miami’s Matt Lee and West Virginia’s Zach Frazier could be options for long-term growth and success at the position.

No matter how the Panthers look to replace Bozeman, they’ll clearly have their options.