What It Means:

The Panthers have plenty of work to do this offseason (re-signing cornerback Josh Norman is their top priority) and it's going to be hard to address all their needs with Johnson counting $15 million against the cap. Carolina can save $11 million in cap room by cutting him, though it's likely the Panthers will at least try to rework his deal. Either way, Kony Ealy will take on a bigger 2016 role.

Johnson was a part of Carolina's -35.60 Adjusted Defensive Net Expected Points in 2015, which ranked second in the league. He played only 9 games this year, though, totaling just 12 tackles and 1.0 sack.