Which Carolina Panthers could retire after Super Bowl?

Super Bowl 50 might be Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning’s last rodeo, but the Carolina Panthers also have some older ranch hands who could be playing in their final game.

An NFL Films camera picked up Manning telling New England coach Bill Belichick “this might be my last rodeo” after the AFC Championship Game. While there’s no audio of any Panthers making similar comments, the team has several players in their 30s who are at or near the end of their contracts.

Strong safety Roman Harper, 33, always wanted to play at least 10 years, a threshold he reached this season. Harper will be a free agent in March, but said he hasn’t thought about his future plans.

“I don’t know. I’ll cross that bridge when I get there,” Harper said. “I always said I wanted to play 10, then I’ll look at it after that. I ran up on 10 pretty fast. I’m still capable of playing. I don’t know.”

Wide receiver Jerricho Cotchery (33) and cornerback Charles Tillman (34) also will be free agents. Defensive end Jared Allen (33) is under contract for next season, but his $8.5 million salary is not guaranteed so the Panthers could cut him without taking a salary-cap hit.

Defensive tackle Dwan Edwards (34) has one year left on his deal. But the veteran said that retiring after winning a Super Bowl is something he would consider.

“It’s weird to think about. You always want to go out on top,” Edwards said. “It’d be something I’ll have to think about after the season. No other better way to go out than that, for sure.”

Cotchery and Edwards both said their focus is on enjoying – and winning – their first Super Bowl.

“I’ve been through this moment a bunch of times in my head. So this moment feels familiar to me because I’ve seen it, walked through it so many times,” Cotchery said. “I’m just enjoying this moment. It’s easy to do it with this group. It’s been an incredibly fun year.”

Panthers set ‘for all kinds of weather’

The Panthers are scheduled to touch down Sunday at the San Jose airport around 3:30 p.m. Pacific time. Their equipment and a lot of gear should be waiting for them.

A tractor trailer filled with blocking sleds, travel trunks and other items left Charlotte on Tuesday and was scheduled to arrive in San Jose on Saturday. The Panthers are staying in San Jose and practicing at San Jose State during Super Bowl week.

Temperatures are expected to be in the mid-50s to the low-60s in the Bay area but equipment manager Jackie Miles said he packed for all kinds of weather, including wet conditions.

“I’ve been told by the 49ers equipment manager that it pretty much rains two out of every three days,” Miles said. “We’re not going to be packed for Minnesota cold with the heavy parkas. But I have the nice baseball jackets packed and some lightweight jackets. So if anything happens we’ll be ready for it.”

Miles said he has seven game jerseys for quarterback Cam Newton and four or five for middle linebacker Luke Kuechly, with several expected to be used for charitable events.

“Those two jerseys are in demand,” Miles said.

The status of the Thieves Ave. sign that was hung above the secondary’s section of the locker room during the playoffs remains a mystery. A couple of defensive backs said they planned to take the sign to San Jose, but safety Kurt Coleman said otherwise.

“That’s just the street. It’s the thieves that will be traveling,” Coleman said. “Sign stays.”

Tickets, hotels for families add to challenge

Panthers coach Ron Rivera set aside time early in the week for players to take care of ticket requests and hotel accommodations for family members.

It proved to be a more taxing endeavor for Harper than 2010, when he won a Super Bowl with the Saints.

“Way worse, because I wasn’t married with kids then,” Harper said. “It’s a lot more difficult when you’ve got other people involved. I was just rolling solo dolo, whatever I wanted to do.”

Defensive tackle Dwan Edwards has five children under the age of 15, and all of them will be accompanying Edwards and his wife to San Jose. Family members are not allowed to stay with the players, so Edwards booked two additional rooms for his brood.

Edwards plans to soak up as much of the Super Bowl experience as he can while preparing for the Broncos.

“When it’s time to work it’ll be time to work,” Edwards said. “When it’s time to enjoy it, I’ll enjoy my time there with my family or teammates or whatever we have going on.”

This story was originally published January 31, 2016 at 12:08 PM with the headline "Which Carolina Panthers could retire after Super Bowl?."