Hello CSR! Welcome to Brian Answers, part two of your weekly Panthers fan mailbag for everyone! We’re only a few short weeks away from the 2026 NFL Draft, and we’re monitoring prospect visits as we await the final results upcoming. Let’s dive right into all of your burning questions from this week!
Good_Ol_Boy: Do you think that this will be the draft where our FO finally realizes that there are two different player-types within the safety position? Or will they just draft yet another box thumper?
This is an interesting question, even if I put my feelings for beloved Nick Scott aside. I do think the Panthers defense can use that different skillset at free safety, I just don’t think it was something they valued in recent past as much as loading up on the trenches on defense, and basically trying to win at the fundamental level on that side of the ball. Now that Carolina isn’t coming off a season with an NFL historically bad defense, they probably feel they can afford to add a player at the back end of the defense that really compliments the skillset of everyone else. I don’t think they played Nick Scott at free safety because they felt he was an upper tier starter, I think they simply thought his communication skills and familiarity with Ejiro Evero’s defense was enough that they could focus on other positions. Remember, pretty much every NFL defense has a weakness. For Carolina, they had several ahead of the 2025 season. Sometimes you just have to plug a hole in your in your bathroom wall with the duct tape in your cabinet when the water pipes are flooding your basemebt, if I can summon my own Terrible Metaphor Guy comparison.
So in sum, I think they certainly could this time around, even in the first round. But I still think KC Conception is the guy. Don’t @ me.
packpowerfan: What do you think a reasonable trade offer would look like for Dexter Lawrence; and if you were Dan Morgan, being presented that deal, would you pull the trigger? Personally I believe the asking price is going to be stratospheric before taking into account his desire for a contract extension, but I also believe he is the kind of player that justifies the cost.
Well, since the Giants clearly don’t WANT to trade him away, and have him under contract for two more seasons, their asking price is likely going to be pretty high. I’d say at least a first round pick, and a future second round pick, or better. And he absolutely would justify that cost. However, Carolina is not in a position where one high end interior linemen gets them the distance from NFC Wild Card round (by chance, basically, in 2025) to a Super Bowl. As much as I’d love to see Dexter Lawrence and Derrick Brown rag-doll offensive linemen all year on Baldy’s Breakdowns, I just don’t think they are in a position to make that trade, nor should they consider it. It objectively would make the team better, but it just isn’t a move I would make in this team’s current state. Oh yeah, and you’d have to pay him.
DannyLimes: who are your favourite panthers beat writers of the past decade?
Special shout outs to Jaxon and BW Smitty for making this website everything it has become. This community thrives as a result of their efforts. I love many of the Panthers beat writers that are out there now, and have come and gone, but for me, those two were the foundation. I’ll also say James Dator, who struggled right along with us before moving up in the ranks. And me, I’m my personal favorite Panthers writer. Holla at Ya Boi.
KeepPounding88: Do you see our 1st round pick being more like 2024 (when we literally told XL he was going to be our pick), or more like 2025 (when everyone thought we were drafting Walker but then we threw a curveball by taking T-Mac)?
I don’t think the Panthers have legitimately telegraphed a first round pick this year. They’ve been exploring all possible avenues, and that seems to be because its really hard to predict what 18 straight draft picks will happen before you make a selection. You can run as many mock drafts as you want, and they never end up quite the same in this scenario. The Xavier Legette situation is definitely one to remember, but Carolina probably would have gotten him with their 2nd round pick a few picks later had they not traded up. I don’t feel like I have any idea who the Panthers will take. (But its probably KC Conception, because my 1st round draft predictions since Dave Gettleman left have been IMPECCABLE).
hollywud: So with this being year 4 of the Bryce experiment and signing him to the 5th year extension (which makes sense financially). In a scenario where Bryce plays the first 8 games of the year starting slow as usual and getting a “little” better along with some inconsistent outings sprinkled in he gets injured in week 7 (not wishing this, just a scenario) and is out for 3-4 games and then is mediocre the remaining year would this solve the “is Bryce a franchise QB question”? In this worst case scenario, would we be forced to draft a QB and keep Bryce playing on the 5th year extension while the new QB is brought along due to him having no trade value?
I haven’t really been diving into Bryce Young scenarios this off-season a ton, but I’ll bite here. I do think the reason Dan Morgan and Dave Canales have been so non-committal in their answers to the press about Bryce’s future is specifically because they want to see it play out. That said, in your hypothetical scenario, it probably makes sense to keep Bryce Young if they draft a QB, but I don’t think they are forced to. This current off-season was wild with quarterbacks becoming available in free agency, and that might start to become more normal in the coming offseasons. Now that starting QBs are coming with huge contract price tags, teams might start just letting them go and cutting losses rather than locking into expensive contract negotiations that basically keep the team at the mercy of a quarterback signing or not. So, in your worst case scenario outlined, the Panthers may have more options available than just the Draft. Its going to be fun to watch the next few offseasons play out. Either the QB market corrects itself in some way, or teams start to get a lot stingier about paying a large percentage of their salary cap to quarterbacks they aren’t sure about. See: Kyler Murray, Tua, and Daniel Jones.
@WTMealey: Rank these in order of your enjoyment or desire to watch.
Round 1 of the draft
Panthers preseason game where starters play 1st half
Jets vs Browns regular season game
Panthers week 18 if they’re eliminated from playoff contention
Day 2 of the draft
As much as I despise the build up to the NFL Draft (dude, we can only read so many mock drafts), the NFL Draft itself is SO MUCH FUN. So I give days one and two of the Draft as my favorites. The Panthers preseason game where they play starters is also fun, mainly because we get a small glimpse into the future, even if its clouded with vanilla and smoke. But its still most of the guys we expect to see play come week one, especially if there’s an exciting rookie out there where we can see their first live showcase.
I’ll give Panthers week 18 next as my favorite, just because at the current structure of the NFL, they likely have a chance to wreck another NFC South opponents season or at least give them a nice bruise on the shin ahead of the playoffs. And then Jets Browns, hey, that could be fun in 5 years or so!
