NFL Free Agency: Carolina Panthers release center Pat Elflein, open up salary cap space

The Carolina Panthers released center Pat Elflein on Tuesday, the team announced. Elflein, in his sixth season in the NFL, played two seasons in Carolina after mostly playing for the Minnesota Vikings — the team that drafted him out of Ohio State — and a brief stint in 2020 with the New York Jets.

By releasing Elflein, the Panthers will save roughly $4.8 million against the salary cap. Every dollar counts, especially when you might be about to take a quarterback with the first overall pick.

The Vikings selected Elflein in the 3rd round of the 2017 NFL Draft with the 70th overall pick. He was an All-American lineman at Ohio State and started on the 2014-15 national championship team.

More on the 2023 NFL offseason, free agency

The NFL 2023 calendar year is set to begin at 4 p.m. ET on March 15 when contracts running through 2022 will officially run out, making those players free agents. Prior to the beginning of free agency, teams will have a chance to designate one franchise or transition tag player, starting on Feb. 21 at 4 p.m. ET and ending on March 7. Beginning March 13 through March 15 teams will be allowed a legal negotiation with players who are set to become unrestricted free agents.

In addition to NFL free agency, the new year also marks the beginning of all trades being made official by the league office. April 21 marks the deadline to sign restricted free agents to offer sheets while April 26 marks the deadline for teams to match restricted free agent offers sheets. 722 players are slated to become free agents in 2023.

More on restricted, exclusive rights free agents

Players with only three years of accredited NFL experience become restricted free agents. Their original team will have the option to apply first-round, second-round, original-round, and right-of-fight-of-first-refusal tenders on players at escalating price tags. The higher the round, the more expensive the tender amount; however, if a separate team does offer a contract and the original team does not match that round pick will be conveyed from the new team to the original team. Right of first refusal only gives a team the option to match or not. If they don’t match, they get nothing in return. An original-round tender would send a draft pick from whatever round the player was drafted back to the original team if they chose not to match. The original team will have five days to match once a player signs an offer sheet from a new team.