With no new deal seemingly in sight for two-time Pro Bowl pass rusher Brian Burns, the Carolina Panthers are destined to use the franchise tag for the eighth time in their history.
But how did the first seven play out?
Let’s take a look at Carolina’s history with the tag.
2003: P Todd Sauerbrun
Value: $1.47 million
Sauerbrun entered the 2003 offseason with back-to-back first-team All-Pro selections, honors that the Panthers obviously didn’t take lightly. After the tag made him the highest-paid punter in the game, the then-30-year-old went on to notch a second-team All-Pro distinction and his third straight Pro Bowl nod.
He’d spend one more season in Carolina before heading out west to the Denver Broncos in 2005.
2008: OT Jordan Gross
Value: $7.45 million
In the same season he played on the tag, Gross earned his first career first-team All-Pro and Pro Bowl selections. The 2003 first-round pick went on to sign a six-year, $60 million pact in 2009 and finished out his career with two more all-star appearances.
A lifer in Charlotte, Gross was inducted into the Panthers Hall of Honor in 2019.
2009: DE Julius Peppers
Value: $16.68 million
This tag eventually led to a pretty nasty divorce—as Peppers, who ended his first run for the Panthers with a 10.5-sack campaign in 2009, got his long-term deal from the Chicago Bears. The Wilson, N.C. native jumped ship for a six-year, $91.5 million the next offseason—and didn’t regret it.
The soon-to-be Pro Football Hall of Famer would return home to play out the final two seasons of his career in the black and blue.
2011: C Ryan Kalil
Value: $10.1 million
Kalil never ended up playing while on the tag. Before the 2011 season started, he signed a six-year, $49 million deal—making him the highest-paid center in the game.
He’d go on to record two first-team All-Pro nods (2013 and 2015) and play an integral part in the franchise’s second Super Bowl appearance.
2014: DE Greg Hardy
Value: $13.1 million
A 15.0-sack season in 2013 would force the Panthers to tag Hardy, who brought in second-team All-Pro and Pro Bowl distinctions. But he’d play one more game for the organization, as he was placed on the commissioner’s exempt list following the 2014 season opener due to domestic violence charges.
Hardy played just one more NFL season, signing on with the Dallas Cowboys for 2015.
2016: CB Josh Norman
Value: $13.9 million
Former general manager Dave Gettleman played takesies-backsies with this tag after Norman refused to sign it. Two days after failing to appear at voluntary offseason workouts, the 2015 first-team All-Pro used his pen for a five-year, $75 million deal from the then-Washington Redskins.
While he’s still kickin’ in the NFL, having played for the Buffalo Bills this past season, Norman never reached the same heights he did in 2015.
2021: OT Taylor Moton
Value: $13.8 million
Following in the footsteps of his former teammate in Kalil, Moton ended up getting his long-term deal before playing a single snap on the tag. The 2017 second-rounder agreed to a four-year, $72 million pact later that summer.
Oh, and he hasn’t missed a single game since.
