Panthers release veteran OLB Jadeveon Clowney, save cap space

Mike Kaye, The Charlotte Observer on May 8, 2025

Published in Football

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CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Jadeveon Clowney will be looking for work elsewhere in 2025.

The Carolina Panthers released Clowney on Thursday, a league source confirmed. ESPN was the first to report the move.

The move will open up $7.78 million in salary cap space, according to Over The Cap. However, because the Panthers couldn’t trade Clowney, they’ll still need to pay $2 million in guaranteed salary to the Rock Hill, S.C., native.

Clowney will also leave $6 million in dead money on the Panthers’ salary cap. Dead money is accumulated through previously paid bonuses and contract restructures.

Clowney signed a two-year, $20 million deal with the Panthers last offseason.

He was expected to be the team’s primary edge rusher after producing 9.5 sacks in Baltimore during the 2023 season. However, Clowney’s pass-rushing prowess proved to be inconsistent. While he co-led the team — with defensive end A’Shawn Robinson — with 5.5 sacks, Clowney’s output fell short of expectations, like most of the defense.

Clowney, 32, appeared in just 14 games last season. He’s likely to be used as a rotational pass rusher for the remainder of his run in the NFL.

With Clowney moving on, D.J. Wonnum, a fellow former Gamecocks pass rusher, will need to step up as the top guy in the outside linebackers room. The Panthers hired A.C. Carter to lead the position after former outside linebackers coach Tem Lukabu was let go in January.

The team also signed former Minnesota Vikings edge rusher Patrick Jones II to a two-year, $15 million deal in free agency. Jones is expected to work at the top of the rotation with Clowney headed elsewhere.

During April’s NFL draft, the Panthers selected Texas A&M’s Nic Scourton in the second round and Mississippi’s Princely Umanmielen in the third round. Both Day 2 picks were added to a position room that was previously seen as shallow. However, with their arrivals, Clowney was clearly deemed somewhat expendable.

Wonnum and Jones will likely lead the charge at outside linebacker with Scourton and Umanmielen sprinkled into the rotation early in their respective rookie campaigns. The team also has DJ Johnson, Amare Barno, Thomas Incoom and Kenny Dyson at the position.

Johnson, a 2023 third-round pick, will look to make a giant leap in his third NFL offseason. Barno, a special teams ace, could be one of team’s kickoff and punt coverage standouts in 2025.

Jordan Matthews among seven others players cut after draft

In addition to Clowney, the team announced the departures of TE Jordan Matthews, WR TJ Luther, DT Jerrod Clark, DT Popo Aumavae, C Andrew Ryam, WR Dax Milne and TE Colin Granger on Thursday. Those eights cuts — including Clowney — opened up room for the 18 previously reported undrafted rookies who agreed to deals shortly after the 2025 NFL draft.

Matthews — outside of Clowney — is the most notable departure on the cut list. The 2014 second-round pick originally joined the Panthers in 2023 while Frank Reich served as head coach. He played in four games for the Panthers across two seasons, as he bounced on and off the 53-man roster and 16-man practice squad. The 11-year veteran will now be free to sign elsewhere as a free agent.

Releasing Matthews now will give him the opportunity to latch onto another roster before organized team activities begin later this month. The wideout-turned-tight end has had a whirlwind career, but if Matthews wants to keep playing, he should be able to find an opportunity elsewhere, even at 32. Matthews was made expendable in Carolina following the fifth-round selection of tight end Mitchell Evans last month.

Granger, a former Coastal Carolina basketball player, signed with the team in March. Granger was being converted to tight end, but he was dealing with a recent hamstring injury, a league source confirmed. His departure was related to the injury heading into rookie minicamp.

The Panthers’ roster is currently at 62 players (without counting the eight-man draft class), as the team also placed second-year running back Jonathon Brooks on the physically unable to perform (PUP) list. Brooks, who is coming off a second ACL surgery in as many offseasons, will be shut down for the entire season because of the move. The Panthers have added veteran Rico Dowdle and fourth-round pick Trevor Etienne behind starter Chuba Hubbard to mitigate the loss of Brooks. The team also has fourth-year returner/running back Raheem Blackshear in the mix at running back.

The huge undrafted class will arrive in Charlotte this weekend for rookie minicamp. While there are 18 agreements in place, the nine roster moves made on Thursday give the team the flexibility to add as many as 20 new faces to the roster this weekend. The team currently has 70 spots spoken for when considering the players under contract and the draft class.

The team also have International Pathway Program player, defensive end Mapalo “Maz” Mwansa, under contract. Mwansa has an international player exemption, so he doesn’t count against the 90-man roster.

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