Carolina Panthers Restructure Safety Wood's Contract

The Carolina Panthers have cut a deal with their veteran safety in order to clear cap space for the new league year. Xavier Woods has converted a portion of his 2023 salary to a signing bonus, clearing $1.592 million in cap space.

Salary conversions to clear 2023 cap space overnight …#Dolphins LT Terron Armstead (clears $11.876 million)#Cardinals OT D.J. Humphries (clears $5.333M)#Eagles K Jake Elliott (clears $2.492M)#Panthers S Xavier Woods clears (clears $1.592M)
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) March 10, 2023

Woods signed a three-year, $15 million deal with the Panthers last offseason and delivered a solid season, starting 15 games and earning a 63.5 overall grade from Pro Football Focus. Restructuring his contract indicates the Panthers are content with Woods and picture him as a significant part of their future.

The Panthers are nearly $9.5 million under the 2023 cap, but they're in the market for a new quarterback, which means they'll need every dollar they can scrape together. Aaron Rodgers and Lamar Jackson are both available via trade, and Jimmy Garoppolo is an unrestricted free agent. Acquiring any of those players would likely require significantly more cap space.