The Panthers are planning to sign five of the 35 tryout players who were at Friday and Saturday’s rookie minicamp. That official announcement, which will include FB Lee Ward, should happen Monday.

Since this part of the NFL calendar often confuses some fans, I wanted to help explain the differences between undrafted free agents and tryout players.

UNDRAFTED FREE AGENTS

• Last Monday, the Panthers agreed to terms with 10 ‘priority free agents’ who went undrafted:
  • RB Brandon Wegher
  • WR Damiere Byrd
  • DE Arthur Miley
  • DE Steve Miller
  • DT Darious Cummings
  • DT Terry Redden
  • LB Brian Blechen
  • CB Garry Peters
  • S Dean Marlowe
  • K/P Matt Wile

• They later signed three-year contracts for the rookie minimum, which is $435,000 in 2015, $525,000 in 2016, and $615,000 in 2017.

• Most likely received signing bonuses. Each team is limited to spending about $87,000 in signing bonuses to lure UDFAs, who often have offers from multiple teams.

TRYOUT PLAYERS

• According to sources, the five tryout players the Panthers will add are:
  • FB Lee Ward
  • TE Jamie Childers
  • G Jordan McCray
  • C Ronald Patrick
  • DE Rakim Cox

• Tryout players also tend to get three-year contracts, but in some cases, their deals are for just one year.

• Tryout guys rarely get signing bonuses or any guaranteed money.

• While priority free agents receive some guaranteed money, NFL players don’t get paid a salary until the season starts. So the biggest similarity between the two groups is making the 53-man roster matters more than anything else.

And one other note: The Panthers began the weekend with 86 players, so adding five would put them over the 90-man limit. That means a corresponding move is coming on Monday as well.

---