Xavier Woods' contract restructured by Carolina Panthers

The Carolina Panthers announced they restructured the contract of defensive back Xavier Woods.

The move created more salary cap flexibility as the team prepared for free agency, set for next week. Woods initially signed a three-year deal ahead of the 2022 season.

In his first season with the Panthers, Woods played 15 games and finished with 86 total tackles, 53 solo tackles, six pass deflections and two fumble recoveries.

In his career with the Dallas Cowboys, Minnesota Vikings and Panthers, Woods has 441 total tackles, 297 solo tackles, five tackles for loss, eight interceptions, 34 pass deflections, five forced fumbles, three fumble recoveries and one sack.

Woods was a sixth-round pick by the Cowboys out of Louisiana Tech in the 2017 NFL Draft.

As a member of the Class of 2013, Woods was a three-star recruit out of West Monroe (La.) High, according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies. He was the No. 35 overall prospect in the state, the No. 84 cornerback in the class and the No. 810 overall prospect in the class.

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.