Panthers wide receiver Robbie Anderson looks to be on the move following his dismissal from Sunday’s game by the Panthers coaching staff, with Anderson being traded to Arizona for the remainder of the season.

For the Cardinals this is an easy trade to make. Anderson will only cost them $690,000 on the salary cap this year and while he will cost $12 million next season, none of that number is guaranteed so they can walk away with no issues. They have not yet announced the trade compensation but it would be hard to believe that it would be much anything given how things ended in Carolina. Anderson should give them at least some insurance as a replacement for Marquise Brown who went down with an injury during the team’s loss to Seattle.

Carolina will carry about $10.2 million in dead money for Anderson in 2022 and another $9.7 million in 2023. Carolina, who was cap strapped earlier in the offseason and needed to make room to remain in the the hunt to acquire Deshaun Watson, had already paid out $11.765 million of Anderson’s salary back in the spring to help achieve that salary cap relief, so it is a big bill to pay for someone not on the team.

Anderson joined Carolina in 2020 on a two year, $20 million contract during free agency. Anderson had a softer than expected market so the Panthers took a chance and for one season it worked out with Anderson putting up a career best 1,096 yards and 95 receptions.

Even though it was not a one year “prove it” deal the Panthers treated it as such and quickly extended Anderson after the season to a new contract worth $14.75 million a season. This would be a disaster for the team as Anderson only had 519 yards in 2021. Rather than paying the original $8 million salary and then letting him walk after a poor season, the new extension saw the team pay $12.5 million in 2021 and then an additional $12.31 million this year. For that extra $16.31 million in cash and cap the Panthers got 6 additional games, 13 receptions, 206 yards, and a touchdown of production.