Panthers OL Cade Mays Officially Signs RFA Tender

Carolina placed the original-round tender on Mays as a restricted free agent earlier this month. This allowed the Panthers to recoup a sixth-round pick for Mays in the event he signed an offer sheet with another team.

The move will cost the Panthers $3.263 million for the 2025 season. 

Mays, 25, was a freshman All-American and All-SEC at Georgia but ended up transferring to Tennessee, where he was second-team All-SEC as a senior in 2021. The Panthers drafted him in the sixth round of the 2022 NFL Draft. 

He was entering the third year of a four-year deal worth $3,833,075 that also included a signing bonus of $173,075 when the Panthers waived him coming out of the preseason. He caught on with the Giants practice squad but was later re-signed to the Panthers’ active roster last year. 

In 2024, Mays appeared in 11 games for the Panthers and made eight starts.