The Panthers have already taken their share of hits this offseason, but there’s still a path for Dan Morgan to patch two obvious holes through free agency.
That matters now more than ever in Carolina. Dave Canales’s team is coming off the franchise’s first division title since 2015 and its first playoff trip since 2017, but the roster has been thinned by injuries and availability issues in key spots.
Morgan’s biggest moves came on defense, where he landed pass rusher Jaelan Phillips on a four-year, $120 million deal and 2025 Pro Bowl linebacker Devin Lloyd on a three-year, $42 million contract. He also split his draft work fairly evenly between both sides of the ball in April.
But one of those draft picks won’t help in 2026. Third-rounder Chris Brazzell II tore his left LCL and is out for the season. Second-year edge rusher Nic Scourton is also sidelined with a torn ACL, and the right tackle situation has become a problem too.
That’s why veteran help still makes sense, and NFL.com’s Grant Gordon pointed to two names who could fit in Charlotte: Cam Robinson and Zach Ertz.
Robinson, a nine-year tackle, is the one Gordon tied directly to Carolina’s mess up front.
“Carolina was set to have rookie first-rounder Monroe Freeling and free-agent signee Rasheed Walker duke it out for the starting left tackle spot with Ikem Ekwonu injured. Now Taylor Moton is expected to miss the start of the season due to blood clots, so Freeling and Walker are each set for starting spots…With how precarious the tackle spot is now, depth and a veteran to support Freeling is huge.”
Robinson, a 2017 second-round pick by the Jaguars, has bounced around plenty lately. He opened 2025 with the Texans before finishing the final 13 games with the Browns. Even with that experience, Pro Football Focus currently has him ranked 80th among tackles.
Gordon also floated Ertz as another possible answer for Carolina, this time at tight end.
“Ertz doesn’t want the final play of his phenomenal career to be tearing his ACL, and he’s set for his 14th NFL season with an expectancy of being cleared around the start of the 2026 campaign. Last season, Tommy Tremble and Ja’Tavion Sanders combined for 56 catches in Carolina. Ertz had 50 catches for Washington in 13 games…”
Ertz, a three-time Pro Bowler and Super Bowl LII champion with the Eagles, would bring a passing-game presence Carolina has lacked at the position. In 34 regular-season games under Canales, Panthers tight ends have totaled just 138 catches for 1,233 yards, 8.9 yards per catch, and eight touchdowns.
By comparison, Ertz has piled up 134 receptions over 33 games with Dan Quinn’s team the past two seasons, including three playoff games in 2024, and 12 of those catches went for touchdowns.
Given everything that has already gone wrong, adding Robinson and Ertz would give the Panthers some much-needed stability.
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Chuba Hubbard and Bobby Brown III were at the center of the flare-up, and the staff had to separate the situation before it dragged any further into the session. For a team still trying to settle into camp rhythm, those are the kinds of scenes Canales would rather clean up now than see carry over once the games start to count. [Read more 🡒]