news-record.com

CHARLOTTE (MCT) — The Carolina Panthers have created some salary cap room by extending and restructuring the contract of linebacker Na'il Diggs.

The new deal helped offset a combined cap growth of $2.8 million to the 2009 base salaries of running back Jonathan Stewart, linebacker Thomas Davis and defensive end Tyler Brayton due to contract accelerators they earned last season, according to NFL Players Association documents.

Stewart, Davis and Brayton had escalators in their contracts to reward them for things such as statistical achievements, playing time, performance, etc. Stewart, who rushed for a team rookie-record 836 yards and scored 10 touchdowns, earned an additional $1 million to raise his 2009 base salary from $1.74 million to $2.74 million. Davis, who ranked second on the team with 136 tackles, more than tripled his '09 base salary from $700,000 to $2.2 million.

Brayton earned $300,000 in escalators, the maximum his contract allowed, to increase his '09 base pay from $1.8 million to $2.1 million. He started all 16 games last season, totalling a career-high 41/2 sacks and 59 tackles, two shy of the career high he set as a rookie with Oakland in 2003.

Diggs' contract was due to expire in 2010, but was extended to 2014. He likely received some guaranteed money to be prorated over the life of the new contract to provide salary-cap relief for the Panthers. His '09 base salary dropped by $725,00 from $1.65 million to $925,000, and went down from $2 million in 2010 to $855,000.

The Panthers previously extended the contracts of defensive tackles Damione Lewis and Maake Kemoeatu in similar fashion, stretching them from 2010 to 2014, to help the team get under the cap.