The Carolina Panthers didn’t waste time making noise once the 2026 NFL fiscal year opened in March, and the moves they made pointed straight at one problem area: the pass rush. After fielding the league’s worst defense two years ago and taking steps forward this past season, Carolina added two big names in five-year pass rusher Jaelan Phiilips and four-year linebacker Devin Lloyd.
Lloyd, in particular, has already drawn attention. He was recently ranked as the league’s fifth-best linebacker by Eva Geitheim, Mike Kadlick and Karl Rasmussen of SI.com, and Rasmussen highlighted a part of Lloyd’s game that may have flown a little under the radar last season for the AFC South champions.
“Lloyd parlayed a big 2025 season with the Jaguars,” explained Rasmussen, “into a lucrative contract with the Panthers in free agency. He was one of the league’s best pass-rushing linebackers in ’25, finishing the year with 25 pressures, the third most at his position. He recorded 10 quarterback hits and six tackles for loss during his final season in Jacksonville…”
“Lloyd earned All-Pro second-team honors for his efforts last season,” added Rasmussen, “and was named to his first Pro Bowl. Now, he’ll aim to replicate his terrific ’25 season with his new team and prove he was worth the franchise’s significant investment in him.”
That deal checked in at three years and $42 million, according to Spotrac. Phillips’ contract was even bigger, a four-year, $120 million pact, and he was brought in to attack the Panthers’ biggest weakness. With second-year pro Nic Scourton also in the mix, Carolina suddenly has a pair of edge bookends worth monitoring.
The need is obvious. The Panthers managed just 30 sacks last season.
In 2023, they finished with an NFL-low 27 QB traps, and the year after that they posted only 32 sacks. Over the last three seasons, that adds up to 89 sacks, the fewest in the league.
Lloyd gives Carolina another wrinkle. His pass-rush impact has grown over the last two seasons after he opened his career with no sacks and just six quarterback hits across 34 games, including two playoff appearances in 2022. Over the past two years, he has put up 3.5 sacks and 15 QB hits in 32 games.
And there’s more to his game than just pressure. Lloyd’s versatility stood out in Jacksonville last season, and his career-high five interceptions tied for the second-most in the league. The Panthers are betting that same all-around ability can help him become even more dangerous in 2026.
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For Carolina, the move is less about tearing anything down than about refining how the group operates after a year of learning each other. General manager Dan Morgan has backed Canales for making the kind of tough call that can define a staff, and the hope inside the building is that the adjustment helps the offense stay sharper, more collaborative, and better prepared for the expectations that come with Year 2. [Read more 🡒]