Even after blaming pressure and contact to his

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LANDOVER , Md. (AP) — throwing arm for a costly interception in the first half, Cam Newton had the game on his shoulders in the final minute.Newton led the Carolina Panthers downfield and into the red zone before three consecutive incompletions ended their hopes in a 23-17 loss to the Washington Redskins on Sunday. It was a sour ending to an inconsistent day for Newton, who had two touchdown passes but also a costly interception , an almost fumble, and enough off-target passes to cost Carolina (3-2).“You have games and days like that,” said Newton, who was 27 of 40 for 275 yards passing. “My days of sobbing are over with. I’m excited for what the future holds. I hope we get to see this team again.”A chance to see the Redskins (3-2) again wouldn’t come until the playoffs, and it’s on Newton to get the Panthers there. He showed flashes of that potential at Washington, connecting on five passes, including a TD to Devin Funchess and executing a near-flawless scoring drive early in the fourth quarter.But Newton also needed a heads-up catch from left guard Greg Van Roten to avoid a potential fumble, and then gifted former teammate Josh Norman his first interception since 2016 when he lofted up a pass early in the second quarter.“You just got to protect the football better, and it starts with me,” Newton said. “Felt like we got everything and I just got pushed in the pocket and still tried to force it.”Despite up-and-down play , Newton had second-and-5 from the Washington 16-yard line with 47 seconds left and the chance to rally the Panthers to tie the biggest comeback in franchise history. He threw incomplete in the end zone to Christian McCaffrey and Funchess, and then couldn’t find Jarius Wright on a shorter route on fourth down.“We had some opportunities,” coach Ron Rivera said. “You make your breaks, and we didn’t get any breaks on those.”Newton was Carolina’s leading rusher with 43 yards on nine carries, including a 15-yard scamper untouched up the middle. He had some room to run on the final drive but opted to pass each time.“It’s hard to run the football when you’re only getting — we just call the plays, we try to execute the plays the coaches call,” Newton said. “I feel extremely confident in (offensive coordinator Norv Turner) and the play selection that he has had up until this point, and don’t plan on it changing.”NOTES: Rookie D.J. Moore fumbled on a punt return, setting up the Redskins’ first touchdown, and later after making one of his four catches. Asked about trying to make plays and hold on to the ball, the former Maryland receiver said: “It’s a real fine line. You got to do all of that at once and I didn’t do a good job of that.” … TE Greg Olsen had four catches for 48 yards in his return after missing three games with a broken right foot. With Matt Kalil’s contract being a hot topic among Panthers fans, we reached out to Jason at Over the Cap for his perspective."WhiteFanposts Fanshots Sections Keep Sounding PodcastPanthers 2019 NFL DraftCSR Film RoomCarolina Panthers free agency 2019Five questions with Over the Cap about Matt Kalil’s contractNew,191commentsWith Matt Kalil’s contract being a hot topic among Panthers fans , we reached out to Jason at Over the Cap for his perspective.ESTShareTweetShareShareFive questions with Over the Cap about Matt Kalil’s contractThe Panthers have a decision to make regarding the contract of left tackle Matt Kalil. Kalil—who is now in the shape of his life—spent the 2018 season on injured reserve and has been the focal point of discussions between fans on how the team should handle his just over $12 million cap hit for the 2019 season.I reached out to Jason from Over the Cap to get his thoughts on how the Panthers should approach Kalil’s contract situation this offseason.What are the cap space implications of cutting Matt Kalil pre-June 1 vs post-June 1?If the Panthers cut him pre-June 1 they will lose $3.5 million in cap space, assuming he cant pass a physical. If he can pass a physical then it will be $2.5 million in cap space. The difference is because of a $1 million injury guarantee. That guarantee does have an offset so they will get that money back eventually even if he qualifies for it but it be given back to the team in 2020 rather than 2019.If they use the June 1 they will gain no cap space between the start of free agency and June 1, but would gain $6 or $7 million (the difference is that injury guarantee) on June 2. They would take a $9.8 million dead money charge in 2020 using the June 1 whereas without the June 1 all the money is taken this year. It is our understanding that if a team cuts a player and designates it as a ’post-June 1 cut’, they can’t actually use any saved cap space until after June 1. Is this correct? Can you expound on the post-June 1 process regarding ‘cap savings’?Yes that’s correct. The way it works is that if cut before June 1 all future prorated money accelerates to the current league year as dead money. If after June 1 only the current years prorated money stays with the team as dead money with the future dead money going into the following season.Basically it’s protection for teams in the summer months to allow them to have players compete for roster spots and be able to move on from higher priced veterans with big dead money numbers if they don’t earn a spot. If the June 1 didn’t exist then teams would potentially need to carry much more cap space in August if they had to potentially account for all accelerated money on the cap. The post-June 1 designation was implemented to basically protect salary cap strapped teams from having to pay out offseason bonuses to players that they want to cut but can’t because of the cap consequences. Kalil is a good example. If the Panthers had next to no cap space they could not afford to cut a player whose release would actually increase his cap charge because of dead money. If they are forced to keep him until June 2 he would earn a $1 million salary guarantee thus making it more costly to cut the player. So by allowing a team to designate a player a June 1 they avoid that pitfall.What do average left tackle contracts look like? Is Matt over paid or is it still an expensive position?Left tackle is an incredibly expensive position. Last year Nate Solder signed for over $15 million a year as a free agent. The average tackle earns in the ballpark of $11 million.What does the left tackle market look like this year? Both from a money range and a who is available perspective.It’s pretty lackluster. The best available is probably Donovan Smith from the Buccaneers who is not a standout at all. My guess is he will cost $11 million or so. The next up is Trent Brown on the Patriots. He may be a little cheaper since he didn’t stand out in San Francisco and there is question as to whether he is a left or right tackle. Still probably looking around $10 million a season. After that are names like Kendall Lamm, Ereck Flowers, and Greg Robinson. What do you think the Panthers should do with Kalil’s contract?It’s tough because even the lowest paid left tackles earn around $8 million a year and that is what Kalil’s salary is this year. So its not like they even have a great opportunity to reduce it. I guess what they do is try to convince him to bring down his salary to a guaranteed $4 to $5 million and a chance to earn back the difference in incentives for playtime.In a sense its sinking more money into a bad deal but it’s probably worth giving it a shot especially since the rest of the prospects are not good in free agency.What this means for the PanthersBasically, what Jason is saying is that cutting Matt Kalil this year doesn’t make much financial sense. Yes, the Panthers can split the cap hit into two separate years to save money, but they would still have to find someone in free agency who is making around the same amount of money as Kalil is right now. Even if the Panthers re-signed Daryl Williams and moved Taylor Moton to left tackle, the Panthers wouldn’t come out ahead. For one, Moton is much better at right tackle than he is at left tackle. There’s no reason to move him. When you already have a certified beast at right tackle, you should find a left tackle and leave the right side of the line alone.Also, I’m not a betting man but it’s safe to say that Williams will cost more than the $7 million cap savings the Panthers would get from cutting Kalil this season , so even if they wanted to move Moton over to the left they wouldn’t save any cap space by doing so. Additionally, if we are valuing future cap savings with the current release of Kalil then we should also consider the future losses in such a scenario. We would all but have to resign Daryl Williams or some other valuable free agent. This would take away a compensatory pick in 2020. With the contract Williams is poised to sign, that pick could be as high as a third rounder.Of course, the other option is to cut Kalil and draft an offensive tackle in the first round. That’s also not the best move. The Panthers would have two options there: Draft a left tackle in the first round, or draft a right tackle and move Moton over to the left. Either way, you’re depending on a rookie tackle to protect your franchise quarterback. It’s just not an efficient use of resources.Signing a lower-tier free agent like Chris Clark or Marshall Newhouse is also an option to save some cap space, but we saw how that worked out in 2018. Depending on an unknown quantity or a flat-out bad option at either left or right tackle saves money, but also brings the potential to invite another shoulder surgery kind of disaster. Consider that the odds of finding someone as good as Kalil—as low a bar as that may seem—who would cost less than Kalil are less than zero. Then consider that the Panthers would still have to carry a significant amount of dead money from Kalil’s contract regardless of how they release him. In a year where the roster is full of holes and the Panthers don’t have a whole lot of cap space, adding a hole and decreasing the amount of money they have to work with just doesn’t make sense.

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