The Panthers have applied the franchise tag to Kawann Short, a source tells Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (on Twitter). The long-expected move has since been confirmed by Carolina.
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Now that Short has been tagged, the two sides will have until July to work out a long-term deal. If they are not able to come to a new agreement, Short will likely play out the 2017 season on a one-year, $13.468MM pact.
Short was ranked No. 3 on PFR’s most recent edition of the Free Agent Power Rankings and was our top interior defender to potentially reach the open market. Unlike former teammate Josh Norman, Short is on record as saying he’s okay with signing the franchise tender. The 28-year-old was the third-best interior defender in the league this season, per Pro Football Focus, and his 87.7 overall score was roughly in line with his 2015 mark, even though he had five less sacks. By PFF’s metrics, only defensive tackles Aaron Donald and Calais Campbell ranked ahead of Short in 2016.
The price tag for a Short extension went up when Fletcher Cox and Muhammad Wilkerson inked lucrative new deals last summer. Carolina would probably like to re-up Short at roughly $15MM per year on a multi-year deal, but it might take an AAV of ~$17MM or more to get something done based on how the market looks now. Even that number could trend upwards depending on how things break in March.