The Carolina Panthers spent the offseason tearing down and rebuilding, and nowhere is that more obvious than up front. They poured money into the roster, ranked fifth in the league in spending on contracts entering training camp, and the offensive line now looks almost entirely different from the group that finished last season.
That kind of overhaul can bring upside. It can also bring a mess. For Carolina, the line comes into the season with more questions than answers, especially after losing important pieces from an offensive front that ranked eighth a year ago.
At center, Cade Mays is gone after starting 13 games there for the Panthers, including the playoffs. He played 726 regular-season snaps and didn’t allow a sack, then left for the Detroit Lions after the Wild Card loss.
His replacement is Luke Fortner, who arrived from the division rival Saints and brings some real experience with him. Fortner posted a 72.5 PFF pass-blocking grade, which was seventh among qualifying NFL centers.
The Panthers also made a big move in the draft, taking Monroe Freeling out of Georgia with the 19th pick. That pick matters even more now because Taylor Moton, who was supposed to start at right tackle in 2026, is dealing with blood clots.
Freeling was expected to be the backup left tackle, but he’s now being pushed into a starting role. There is upside here - Freeling has played right tackle before, with snaps there in his junior year, and he’s made it clear he’ll line up wherever he’s asked.
That showed up at the NFL Combine, when he took snaps at center. Still, rookie linemen usually come with growing pains.
Left tackle has changed too. Rasheed Walker signed on from Green Bay and is now stepping in after Ikem Ekwonu’s injury changed the picture.
Ekwonu suffered a torn patellar tendon in the Wild Card loss against the Rams and is likely to miss the entire 2026 season. In 2025, he played 942 snaps and gave up five sacks, so Carolina is replacing a steady presence with a new face learning a new system.
That’s the core issue with this group: almost nobody is in the same spot, and continuity is a huge part of offensive line play. The Panthers have lost that.
They’re also carrying a massive financial load up front, with the line costing $102.3 million in 2026. More than 30% of the salary cap tied to one unit means the group has to be not just solid, but reliably solid.
There’s also no shortage of short-term pressure. Carolina has several players on deals with just one year left, including Ekwonu, who is set to make $17.56 million this season while rehabbing.
Pro Football Focus’ Bradley Locker included the Panthers’ offensive line on his list of five NFL units that could regress in 2026, and the reasoning is easy to see. The talent is there in pieces, but the chemistry isn’t.
If this group takes time to settle, it could put Carolina in a familiar hole early. The Panthers are 0-2 to open the last two seasons, and that kind of start is very much in play again if the front five doesn’t come together quickly.
That matters because regression up front doesn’t stay up front. It spills straight to Bryce Young, who enters a pivotal contract season and faces more pressure than almost any other quarterback in the league.
Carolina doesn’t want to make drastic moves. It wants this line to hold together, and it needs Young and the trenches to step forward.
In Other News...
Panthers Suddenly Have A Real QB Decision Behind Bryce Young
Bryce Young remains the Carolina Panthers starter heading into the season, but the preseason has at least given the team something it didnt have a few weeks ago: a legitimate backup discussion. Undrafted rookie Haynes King has flashed enough in limited action to stand out from the other quarterbacks on the roster, giving the Panthers a look at a young passer whose energy and poise have made him easy to notice.
The bigger picture still points to Young keeping the job, and the Panthers are not expected to make a sudden change at quarterback this year. Even so, King has played well enough to make a roster case of his own, and the development angle is hard to ignore for a team that could use stability behind its starter. At minimum, he has turned the backup spot into something worth watching. [Read more 🡒]
Bryce Young Enters A Make-Or-Break Year With Too Much Unsettled
The Panthers have spent the offseason trying to give Bryce Young more help, but the picture around him still looks unsettled heading into a crucial stretch. The receiving group, led by Tetairoa McMillan and Jalen Coker, is still viewed as a middle-to-lower tier unit, and the run game has not provided the kind of burst Carolina needs to make life easier on its quarterback.
What makes the situation even more difficult is the state of the offensive line, which was once one of the teams real strengths. Injuries and personnel changes have interrupted that stability, with Ikem Ekwonu and Taylor Moton among the key names sidelined, leaving Young to navigate a setup that still feels very much in flux. [Read more 🡒]
Panthers Still Have Something To Prove After That Division Title
Winning the NFC South and finishing 8-9 gave Carolina a division banner, but it did not erase the feeling that the Panthers were still a team trying to figure out how high their ceiling really is. The 2025 season ended with a narrow Wild Card loss to the Rams, 34-31, a reminder that the margin between a playoff berth and a deeper run is still thin for this group.
Now the expectations are already cooling around Carolina heading into 2026. The Panthers' projected win total sits at 7.5, and the betting market is leaning under, a sign that the league is waiting to see whether last season was the start of something sturdier or simply a brief surge before the next step back. [Read more 🡒]