The NFL’s offseason is done, and the first teams to punch the clock are the Cardinals and Panthers.
Carolina got the ball rolling Tuesday when rookies reported in Charlotte, and Wednesday brings the next wave: Panthers veterans joining camp and the Cardinals arriving at State Farm Stadium in Glendale. The rest of the league won’t follow suit until July 28, but Arizona and Carolina are moving early because they’ll meet in the Pro Football Hall of Fame Game on Thursday, Aug. 6.
That extra time matters, but it also shines a light on two very different camps. The Panthers are trying to build on an NFC South title.
The Cardinals are starting over under first-year head coach Mike LaFleur. Either way, football is back, and these are the first two teams officially back to work.
Carolina opened camp with its rookie report date Tuesday, with veterans set to arrive Wednesday before the first practice Thursday. The Panthers will work at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, and their first practices open to fans are scheduled for July 24 and July 25.
A lot of the attention in Charlotte is going to land quickly on first-round offensive tackle Monroe Freeling. That’s because starting right tackle Taylor Moton is expected to miss the beginning of the regular season after being diagnosed with a blood clot in his lung.
Moton is responding well to treatment, but the team has not given a firm timetable for his return. Left tackle Ikem Ekwonu is also working back from a knee injury he suffered during the 2025 playoffs.
That could push Freeling into a bigger role much sooner than expected. Free-agent pickup Rasheed Walker and returning lineman Brady Christensen should also get chances as Carolina sorts through its best five up front. Keeping Bryce Young protected is a major priority after the surprise division title, and Young enters his fourth season with more on his plate and a roster the Panthers believe can make another playoff push.
Carolina also begins camp without another key defender. Two-time Pro Bowl cornerback Jaycee Horn is on the non-football injury list after suffering a foot cut that required stitches. The injury is not expected to affect his regular-season availability, and the Panthers hope to have him back early in camp.
Horn had a career year in 2025, finishing with five interceptions and 16 starts. For Carolina, just having him available has been a meaningful step after injuries interrupted the early part of his career.
The Panthers will also spend camp sorting out the backfield. Jonathon Brooks has been medically cleared after missing all of 2025 with a second torn ACL in his right knee.
Chuba Hubbard is still there as a proven option after rushing for 1,195 yards and 10 touchdowns in 2024. With Rico Dowdle now in Pittsburgh, Brooks and Hubbard could both be in line for significant work.
In Arizona, the first camp under LaFleur begins Wednesday, and the quarterback situation is the biggest early storyline. Jacoby Brissett entered the offseason as the favorite to start, but he missed offseason practices. That opened the door for Gardner Minshew and rookie Carson Beck to get more work in LaFleur’s offense.
Brissett and Minshew both come with plenty of NFL experience. Beck brings the long-term upside, though he has yet to take a professional snap.
The Cardinals don’t have to rush the decision, either. Their expanded preseason slate should give the staff plenty of chances to evaluate all three quarterbacks in game action.
Whoever ends up under center will have a major weapon waiting for him. Trey McBride caught 126 passes in 2025, setting the NFL’s single-season record for receptions by a tight end. He was named first-team All-Pro and remains the focal point of Arizona’s passing game.
The early reporting dates for both teams are tied to the Hall of Fame Game, which will kick off the NFL preseason on Aug. 6 at 8 p.m. ET at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium in Canton, Ohio. The game will also be part of a big weekend for the franchises, with former Cardinals receiver Larry Fitzgerald and former Panthers linebacker Luke Kuechly set to be recognized as members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2026 before kickoff, along with Drew Brees, Roger Craig and Adam Vinatieri.
Fitzgerald and Kuechly each spent their entire careers with the teams that drafted them in the first round. Their recognition gives the Hall of Fame Game a fitting backdrop, and it gives Arizona and Carolina the first real checkpoint of the summer.
For now, the calendar has flipped, the pads are coming out, and the Cardinals and Panthers are the first ones officially into camp.
In Other News...
Cardinals Starter Facing Serious Trouble Right Before Training Camp
Right guard Isaiah Adams is now facing serious off-field trouble just as the Cardinals are getting ready for training camp, putting an early spotlight on one of the more important spots on the offensive line. The 2024 third-round pick had already established himself as a player the team was willing to lean on, and Arizona had reason to view him as part of the competition up front after he started games in his first two seasons.
The situation leaves the Cardinals with an uncomfortable question at a position that was supposed to sort itself out over the summer. Arizona acknowledged the matter but declined to say more, and with camp approaching, the team will have to navigate both the football side and whatever comes next away from the field. [Read more 🡒]
Cardinals Secondary Has The Talent But Camp Will Decide Everything
The Cardinals cornerback room looks like one of the more interesting units on the roster heading into camp, mostly because the talent is obvious even if the certainty is not. Denzel Burke and Will Johnson give Arizona a pair of young corners with real upside, and the group around them has enough depth to make the competition worth watching once practice starts.
Health is the hinge point, though, and it is the reason this secondary can look promising one day and fragile the next. If the top corners can stay on the field, the Cardinals have a chance to turn a position that has been defined by questions into one that helps drive the defense forward, but camp will have to sort out whether that version of the group is actually available. [Read more 🡒]
Cardinals Head Into Camp With A Quarterback Problem They Can't Ignore
With training camp set to open July 22 and the first practice coming a day later, the Cardinals are heading into one of the most important stretches of the offseason with their quarterback room still unsettled. Jacoby Brissett and Carson Beck are both working through contract terms, leaving Arizona with more questions than it probably wanted this close to camp, especially with Gardner Minshew and Kedon Slovis currently the only other quarterbacks on the roster.
Brissetts situation is the one that carries the most weight, since he is already under contract through 2026 and has been pushing for more guaranteed money after being told he would be the starter this offseason. Beck, a third-round pick, is also seeking guaranteed money in his rookie deal, with the language and guarantee amount standing as the main obstacles. For a team trying to get organized before the pads come on, the timing makes the uncertainty hard to ignore. [Read more 🡒]