The Carolina Panthers have been retooling, rebuilding, or just plain stagnating for what feels like the past decade. 2026 marks the first year since 2018 when they have been entering a season fresh off of a playoff appearance and without a lameduck head coach or general manager. What do they have to show for that stability?
Apparently a highly regarded performance in free agency.
Dan Morgan has long talked about wanting to plug all of the team’s holes in free agency so that they can have a clean draft
board and this year may be the closest the Panthers have come to truly not having one or two superlative needs entering April.
A lot hinges on the health of Jaelan Phillips and Ickey Ekwonu (who we aren’t likely to see until late in the season, if at all in 2026), but that’s true of every roster around the league. Injuries happen. Playoff berths are often determined as much by health as by the actual quality of football a team plays.
Guys like Rasheed Walker, Luke Fortner, and Stone Forsythe are remaking and, hopefully, upgrading the Panthers depth along the offensive line. Phillips is the new big name in a pool of otherwise developing edge rushers. Meanwhile Devin Lloyd and Nick Scott are injecting fresh talent into units that were maybe lacking that last season.
Even the Kenny Pickett signing/Andy Dalton trade has probably elevated the overall competitive level in the quarterback room, despite there being very little room for a quarterback controversy this season.
All in all, it’s hard to look at any position group on the Carolina Panthers and say that they have gotten worse through the first month of free agency. Now we just have to sit back and see how the draft falls before we can start declaring the Panthers as the presumptive, repeat NFC South Champs again.
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