The Carolina Panthers lost a coin flip with the Miami Dolphins on Friday morning and will pick ninth in April’s NFL Draft, according to Panthers.com.

The Dolphins won the right to pick eighth after both teams finished 6-10 during the regular season and tied for strength of schedule percentage.

The league used a specially designed coin with the Panthers logo on one side and the Dolphins logo on the other side.  The coin flip took place in Indianapolis, the site of the NFL combine.

The Panthers will pick eighth in the second round as the teams will alternate each round. 

The Panthers do not have a third round pick after trading it last year to Chicago for tight end Greg Olson.

Panthers coach Ron Rivera believes the team's biggest impact players next season might just be some of the ones already on the roster.

   Rivera said Thursday the return of several key players from injured reserve could have a huge impact as Carolina sets out to win its first playoff game in six seasons.

   The Panthers placed a franchise-record 18 players on injured reserve last year, including a handful of starters.

   Rivera says he's hoping for big contributions from returning players such as defensive tackle Ron Edwards, linebackers Jon Beason and Thomas Davis, wide receiver David Gettis and offensive tackle Jeff Otah, all of whom were lost early in the year to season-ending injuries.

   After last year's spending spree to re-sign core players, Carolina isn't in position to be big player in free agency and in fact may even need to restructure a few contracts or cut a few players to get under the salary cap.

   So their prize free agents may be the ones who return from crutches.

   "That's going to be really, really key for us to get those guys back on the field," Rivera said in a telephone interview from Indianapolis.

Check out Cam's new Under Armour commercial.