Joey Slye's tryout is officially more than a tryout.
Slye signed a one-year contract extension with the Panthers, the team announced Thursday.
The Panthers were forced to find a new kicker just before the start of the 2019 regular season due to Graham Gano's season-ending leg injury, and it appears as though they're very happy with Slye. The younger kicker made 25 of 32 field goal attempts (including 8 of 11 attempts from 50-plus yards) and 31 of 35 point-after attempts in his first full season in the NFL.
At 23 years old, Slye represents the Panthers' potential future at the position for years to come. His extension is interesting, though, because it means the Panthers are likely moving on from the 32-year-old Gano, who was scheduled to account for $4.5 million of the Panthers' cap in 2020. Parting ways with Slye before June 1 will save the team $1.46 million in cap space, per Over The Cap, but they'll still have to carry roughly $3 million in dead cap, meaning Carolina will essentially be paying close to the same amount to give Slye a second go-around to see if he really is the future.
That's worth it to potentially answer the position for the long term. We'll see if Slye proves the Panthers right in the start of a new era under coach Matt Rhule.
