We’re at the midpoint of the 2026 NFL season, and that means the pressure is starting to spike in more than one place. The trade deadline is closing in fast - it arrives on November 10th, shortly after Week 9 - and that can set off a chain reaction around the league.
Some teams will be hunting for help. Others will be looking to cash in.
And a few may be staring hard at the most uncomfortable move of all: changing head coaches in the middle of the season.
With that in mind, here’s a fresh look at the Week 9 head coach hot seat rankings, based on which coaches appear most likely to be moved on from before the year is over.
At No. 8 is Dave Canales of the Carolina Panthers. Carolina has gone from two straight wins to two straight losses, and the bigger picture still isn’t especially comforting.
The Panthers won the division last year, but they finished 8-9, and that kind of record usually doesn’t line up with what a team should be aiming for. Canales has gotten Bryce Young playing the best football of his career, but the Panthers still haven’t broken away from the league’s middle class.
They’re stuck in that gray area, and if they can’t put together a run and stay near .500, it’s fair to ask how long Canales can keep his job.
One spot ahead of him is Todd Bowles at No. 7.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are 3-5, but they’re still hanging around in the NFC South and even have a positive point differential. So this isn’t a team that’s completely out of the picture.
Still, the results have been ugly enough over the last year-ish that the frustration is hard to ignore. Tampa Bay has done a lot of losing since the midpoint of the 2025 season, and Bowles has not exactly built the kind of long-term case that makes him feel safe.
He’s clearly a sharp defensive mind, but he may be better suited to being an elite defensive coordinator than carrying the full weight of a head coaching job.
In Other News...
Panthers Trade Buzz Centers On Bryce Youngs Urgent Need
The Panthers receiving room has been under plenty of pressure already, and a new bit of trade chatter only adds to the sense that help could be needed sooner rather than later. According to Steven Ruiz of FOX Sports, Carolina has been linked to Colts wideout Josh Downs, who has reportedly requested a trade, with the idea being that he could give Bryce Young another reliable target as the offense tries to navigate injuries and inconsistency at the position.
For a team trying to give its young quarterback a better chance to settle in, the fit is easy to understand. Ruizs report frames the potential deal as one that could be built around a pair of 2027 fourth-round picks, but for now it remains speculative and rooted in analysis rather than any confirmed move from Carolina. Still, it is the kind of rumor that makes sense for a Panthers team that knows how thin the margin can be when the passing game is short on answers. [Read more 🡒]
Panthers Linked To A Raw Defensive Line Prospect With Rare Upside
Emmanuel Oyebadejos path to the draft is about as unusual as it gets, and that alone makes him easy to notice for teams hunting upside along the defensive front. He only began playing American football in 2023 after coming over from soccer and basketball in England, then moved through Jacksonville State and Florida while flashing the kind of physical traits that can make scouts pause and take a longer look.
For Carolina, the appeal is obvious: a developmental lineman with real production behind limited experience and the sort of raw tools that could eventually fit into a rotation. Analysts see him as a possible Day Two pick, but the bigger question is how quickly he can turn that rare athletic base into something more polished, which is exactly the kind of bet teams have to weigh when the draft board starts to thin. [Read more 🡒]
Panthers Trade Deadline Pressure Is Rising At Their Weakest Position
With the trade deadline approaching, Dave Canales made it clear the Panthers are at least willing to explore ways to add talent, even if the financial picture makes that easier said than done. Carolinas limited salary cap space has become a real obstacle, and it comes at a time when the cornerback room has been thinned by injuries and needs help most of all.
The timing only sharpens the pressure on the front office, because this is not a luxury move so much as a roster-fixing one. If the Panthers are going to patch the weakest spot on the depth chart, they may have to get creative, and the challenge now is finding a move that fits both the need on the field and the reality of what they can spend. [Read more 🡒]