Joe Person of The Athletic reports that the Panthers have officially declined DT Dontari Poe‘s 2020 option. Person notes that Carolina had until Sunday to exercise the club option on Poe.
That move will free up an additional $9.8 million for the Panthers to work with this offseason.
Poe played well for Carolina in his second year with the team, but coming off a torn quad and about to turn 30, the team likely feels it’s best to allocate resources elsewhere as it looks to rebuild.
Poe, 29, is a former first-round pick of the Chiefs back in 2012. He played out his four-year, $11,320,006 contract when the Chiefs picked up his fifth-year option worth $6.15 million for the 2016 season.
Poe elected to sign a one-year, prove-it contract with the Falcons in 2017. He signed a three-year, $27 million deal with the Panthers in 2018 and made base salaries of $800,000 and $4.5 million the past two years.
In 2019, Poe appeared in 11 games for the Panthers and recorded 22 tackles and four sacks. Poe is rated by Pro Football Focus as the No. 32 interior defender out of 113 qualifying players.
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