The Carolina Panthers are heading into training camp with a little extra time on their side, and one of their biggest offseason additions is already drawing national attention.
NFL.com has included Panthers pass rusher Jalelan Phillips on its list of the most anticipated debuts for Week 1 of the 2026 season. The recognition comes as Carolina gets ready to return to the practice fields in about a week, with the NFL Hall of Fame Game giving Dave Canales’ team an extra week to prepare before camp officially ramps up.
There’s plenty for Panthers fans to feel good about after a 2025 season that ended with the team winning the NFC South for the first time in over 10 years. Carolina’s run stopped in the NFC Wild Card round with a loss to the Los Angeles Rams, but the overall direction of the team has created real optimism.
That optimism got a boost this offseason when the Panthers made a major move in free agency by signing Phillips. Carolina is clearly banking on him being a difference-maker off the edge, and the size of the investment shows how much the team believes he can impact the pass rush.
That’s part of why Phillips is already being talked about as a player worth watching when the 2026 season opens. NFL writer Matt Okada highlighted Phillips’ debut as one of the league’s most anticipated, adding another layer of buzz around a Panthers defense that is hoping its new addition can help change the equation up front.
In Other News...
Tetairoa McMillan Camp Mess Has Panthers Fans And Parents Heated
A youth football camp tied to Panthers wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan turned into a mess for families who showed up at A.C. Reynolds High School on July 1 expecting an event that was no longer happening. The camp had been organized by FlexWork Sports, but McMillan was not involved in planning and could not attend, and the company later confirmed the cancellation had already happened in February.
Parents have been left frustrated by the communication breakdown, while the school said it never approved the event in the first place. The situation has only added to the confusion around a camp that was supposed to give local kids a chance to spend time around a Panthers player, but instead left families looking for answers long after the date had passed. [Read more 🡒]
Panthers Camp Just Got Dangerous For These Familiar Bubble Names
Training camp is setting up as a tough sorting exercise for Carolina, where a deeper roster means fewer easy answers for players on the edge. Jimmy Horn Jr., Will Grier and Stone Forsythe all enter with something to prove, and each one is fighting a different kind of battle as the Panthers start trimming the room down to the names that can stick.
Horn may need to show he can help on returns as much as he can at receiver, while Grier is chasing a practice-squad path that does not look simple with another young quarterback in the mix. Forsythes case is different again, with the tackle depth chart already crowded and little margin for error, which makes every rep in camp feel like it matters a little more than usual. [Read more 🡒]
Panthers Finally Look Built To End Their Long .500 Drought
The Panthers spent the offseason trying to do more than just patch holes. After a year in which Bryce Young was asked to carry too much on a roster that still felt unfinished, Carolina has added help on defense and at receiver with the idea of making the whole operation look more balanced in 2024. The expectation around the league is that the defense can climb from middle-tier to something much closer to the top of the conference, which is the kind of jump that can change the shape of a season quickly.
Bryce Young remains the hinge point, though, because the roster upgrades only matter if he can turn them into real progress on the field. If he does, the Panthers have a path to finishing above .500 and putting themselves in the mix in the division again, which would be a meaningful step for a franchise that has been chasing that level for too long. If he does not, all the optimism around the new pieces will sound a lot like the same old Carolina promise. [Read more 🡒]