With Carolina football just six days away, the biggest question hanging over the Panthers is how far this roster can go after an offseason built on defense. The front office took an aggressive swing, pushing its chips to the center of the table and landing some of the biggest names on the free-agent market.
That approach showed up in the spending, too. Carolina finished the offseason with the fifth-most money committed in the league, and the headline move arrived on day one of free agency when Jaelan Phillips signed a four-year, $120 million deal. The fit had been expected to land in Philadelphia, but Carolina stepped in with an offer too strong to turn down.
The Panthers also made another major addition in Devin Lloyd, who earned second-team All-Pro honors in 2025. He came in at less than $15 million per year, a bargain for one of the 5-10 best inside linebackers in football.
That kind of haul is why some around the league are starting to look at Carolina differently. The Athletic’s Joseph Person put out a bold prediction for 2026, projecting the Panthers to finish with a top-5 defense. It’s a big leap, but there’s a real case behind it.
Carolina’s defense finished 2025 ranked 16th, a clear step forward after the unit was historically bad in 2024. Middle of the pack is still middle of the pack, though, and the new talent should give the group a much higher ceiling.
The roster already has some legitimate stars in place. Derrick Brown is widely regarded as one of the five best defensive tackles in the game, and he turned in a career-high five sacks in 2025.
In the secondary, Jaycee Horn is coming off a Pro Bowl season after tying for second in the league with five interceptions. Mike Jackson also had a breakout year, matching Horn with five picks of his own.
Jackson will enter January at age 30 and is in a contract year, so there’s extra reason for him to chase another strong season in 2025.
The two biggest additions also addressed the team’s biggest problems. Phillips gives Carolina the kind of edge threat it lacked badly a year ago. The Panthers finished last season last in sacks and bottom-three in quarterback hits, and the pass rush never found a real answer.
The issues extended to the linebacker group, where Carolina ranked No. 30 in DVOA against tight ends and 28th against passes to the short middle of the field. Lloyd and Bobby Okereke should help change that. Okereke joined Carolina after being released by the New York Giants, bringing a level of experience that the room was missing outside of Lloyd.
Add it all together, and the case for a major defensive jump is easy to see. Carolina brought in premium talent, filled obvious holes, and gave a unit that already had some star power a much stronger foundation.
In Other News...
Panthers Enter Week 1 With One Big Backfield Question
The Panthers are trying to get to Week 1 with as much of their offense intact as possible, and the focus at the moment lands squarely on the backfield. Dave Canales sounded upbeat about Brooks chances of playing despite the recent soreness, while Chuba Hubbard is expected to be fully available, giving Carolina at least some stability as it heads into the opener.
Around them, the injury list is already long enough to shape the early weeks of the season. Chris Brazzell, Brady Christensen, Bam Martin-Scott, Nic Scourton, Iken Ekwonu and Tershawn Wharton are all dealing with issues that will keep them out for varying stretches, leaving the Panthers with a roster puzzle that extends well beyond one position and a Week 1 outlook that still feels unfinished. [Read more 🡒]
Panthers Injuries Are Putting Dan Morgans Rebuild To An Early Test
The Panthers are already running into the kind of early adversity that can shape a rebuild before September even arrives. Injuries to starting offensive tackles Taylor Moton and Ikem Ekwonu have put immediate pressure on a line that was supposed to help stabilize the offense, while setbacks for defensive tackle Tershawn Wharton, linebacker Nic Scourton and wide receiver Chris Brazzell II have thinned out depth on both sides of the ball.
For Dan Morgan, it is a first real stress test of how much resilience this roster has after the offseason overhaul. Carolina does have answers on paper, with capable backups such as Rasheed Walker and first-round pick Monroe Freeling ready to step in, and the addition of Bobby Okereke gives the defense another veteran option as the team tries to hold things together. The larger question is whether those layers are enough to keep the Panthers on course while the injury list keeps growing. [Read more 🡒]
Panthers Fans Still Have One Reason To Doubt This Team
The early signs around Dave Canales third Panthers team have looked better than what fans have grown used to. Carolina opened the 2026 preseason at 3-1, and the biggest difference has been the kind of depth the roster can now offer after two seasons of thin margins and slow starts. Even so, the first group on the field still has some catching up to do, which keeps the overall evaluation from getting too far ahead of itself.
Panthers supporters have every reason to stay guarded after so many previous disappointments, especially with the roster issues inherited from years of uneven drafting still hanging over the program. But this is also the strongest group Canales has put together so far, and there is at least a credible case that the team can finish better than it has started if that improved depth starts to show up when the games count. [Read more 🡒]