Kawann Short: Pay the Man Already

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Kawann Short, Carolina’s star defensive tackle, is entering the last year of his rookie contract. He is currently slated to make only $1.4 million. As we all have heard, he skipped optional OTAs last week, and he could possibly sit out mandatory team activities approaching. We all know why. Before I drop how much money he wants on y'all, let's review his last few years of stats… 

2015: 11.0 QB sacks, 36 solo tackles, 19 assisted tackles
2014: 3.5 QB sacks, 20 solo tackles, 20 assisted tackles
2013: 1.5 QB sacks, 18 solo tackles, 12 assisted tackles

Now, here's the number...you ready? $13,000,000 yearly for an extensive contract. I think that's a steal. I know there's going to be people going “What? Look at the stats, he just had 1 good season and you want to pay him 13mil? That's outrageous!” Yes, he may not have gotten 11 sacks every season, but look at the tackles. He still crowds the line and stuffs the run every year. He deserves every cent of that $13 mil. 

What does the hold out mean? Recently in an interview, head coach Ron Rivera tried to sweep this under the rug, dismissing ''It's voluntary, so he decided not to come.'' He reasoned, ''It's one of those things where he has to decide what he wants to do, but since it's voluntary we are not that concerned about it.” Rivera implied he would be concerned if KK doesn’t show up for next week's 3-day mandatory workout. How far is he willing to hold out? Will he pull a Kam Chancellor and sit out the entire offseason and actually skip games? I pray he doesn't, or the Carolinas are going to be a little angry.

The Panthers could pay him the money right now. When Dave Gettleman pulled the tag on Josh Norman, it freed up $14 million additional cap space to the 8 million Carolina already had. 

Don’t panic, it's just a matter of time until old man Jerry Richardson and Dave Gettleman have a nice meeting with the one, the only, Kawann Short...locking up what is quickly becoming one of the more dominant defensive players in the league.

By Nick Black
Follow him on Twitter @SavageSuperCam