The Carolina Panthers have still yet to sign their star right tackle (now left tackle) Jordan Gross, who was given the franchise tag earlier this offseason. With the deadline coming Tuesday, it looks more and more likley that the Panthers are simply going to pay Gross the $7.455 million instead of signing him to a long term contract.

Because the Panthers don’t won’t to sign Gross, it would appear that they plan on letting him go next season, and letting Jeff Otah, their second first round pick of this year’s draft, take over for Gross. Of course that is assuming that Otah plays well enough this season to show that he can replace Gross.

Even though it may mean getting rid of one of their best players, I think that in general, this is a pretty good decision on the Panthers part. By franchising Gross the Panthers ensure that he is on the team this season, and if Otah doesn’t perform the way they expect, they can always franchise Gross again next season and try and sign him to a long term contract, which will probably be monstrous. If they do sign him, Gross is going to take up a pretty big chunk of the salary cap, which is probably why they don’t won’t to sign him now.

Normally I am in favor of keeping your star players on your team, but you can’t keep all of them, and seeing as the Panthers already signed Travelle Wharton, it would be expensive to keep them both. But, hey , you never know, just because they don’t sign him this season doesn’t mean they won’t sign him next season, especially if John Fox and Marty Hurney are on their way out, and the new coach, say Bill Cowher, is coming in.

Tags: carolina panthers, gross sign