Paul Soliai to Sign with Panthers: Latest Contract Details, Comments, Reaction

Former Atlanta Falcons nose tackle Paul Soliai is staying in the NFC South. The nine-year veteran agreed to sign a two-year deal worth $7 million, including $3 million guaranteed, with the Carolina Panthers on Monday, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com.

ESPN's Adam Schefter confirmed the news.

Soliai visited with the Panthers on Sunday, per Rapoport. 

The Falcons cut the veteran with a post-June 1 designation Wednesday—two years into his five-year, $33 million deal. The move was expected as early as February, per Rapoport.

Atlanta reportedly asked Soliai to take a pay cut from the $6.9 million he was scheduled to earn, according to Bleacher Report's Jason Cole.

He had a significant decline in production last year as the Falcons shifted from a 4-3 base defense to a 3-4 after Dan Quinn took over as head coach.

Soliai was a headline free-agent signee for Atlanta before the 2014 season and fit in nicely during his first season, tallying 29 tackles, six stuffs and a sack. But the Falcons couldn’t justify paying him at the rate he was due after he played just 34 percent of the team's defensive snaps last year, per Football Outsiders—down from 46.4 percent in 2014.

In Carolina, he’ll join a defensive line that allowed just 3.9 yards per carry last year, which tied for the seventh-best mark in the league. The NFC champs released 12-year veteran Dwan Edwards on March 3 and needed another run-stuffer to join young stars Kawann Short and Star Lotulelei.

The Panthers' championship-caliber defense is as solid as they come, proving as much during last year’s run to the Super Bowl.

Soliai may not be a No. 1 option like he was during his early years with the Miami Dolphins or in his first season with the Falcons, and he’ll earn less than half of what he was due in Atlanta next year.

But he’ll also have a chance to compete for a Super Bowl title as a veteran on a young team that is entering its prime.