If the Carolina Panthers are looking to wheel and deal before the 2025 draft, then which player would be their most useful (and realistic) bargaining chip?
Pro Football Focus contributor Bradley Locker recently named each NFL team’s best trade asset ahead of April’s selection process. And for the Panthers, he offers up center Cade Mays:
Many of the Panthers’ building blocks seem untouchable, but Mays could get moved based on the team’s offseason transactions.
Carolina re-signed Austin Corbett and Brady Christensen, which means the team’s center situation doesn’t have a lot of clarity. Mays posted a terrific 74.9 PFF pass-blocking grade across 495 total snaps in 2024, but he’s amassed only 980 snaps in his three-year career. With experience playing both guard and center, the 2026 free agent could be a trade piece.
Mays, like Corbett and Christensen, was also brought back at the beginning of the offseason. The Panthers, back on March 7, officially tendered the 2022 sixth-round pick on a $3.2 million deal.
That faith was earned by a solid showing from Mays this past season, where he started at center in eight of the team’s final nine outings. Per PFF, the 25-year-old allowed just 10 pressures over 308 pass-blocking opportunities in 2024.
