CHARLOTTE — Traditionally, when the Carolina Panthers have been successful, it's been because of their defense, from the beginnings of the franchise, with Hall of Famers on that side of the ball from Sam Mills to Julius Peppers to Luke Kuechly.

And as they enter the 2026 season, they're trying to get back to that kind of level, and have worked intently to build it.

It's no accident that general manager Dan Morgan was a linebacker on those 2000s teams that went from 31st in the league in total defense to second in a single season, and then went to a Super Bowl on the backs of a bunch of studs on that side of the ball the following year.

So when the guys on the current defense look at how Morgan has methodically built this roster, they feel that theme.

"You can just see it, in the way that things have gone in the offseason, he's a defensive guy," safety Nick Scott said. "It's kind of ingrained in him, right? Like when you're a defensive guy, you always take pride in how the defense performs when it's your team. And defense wins championships, right? I truly believe that. I know a lot of people believe that, and we're at that point now where we should be talking about championships; first is just winning the division. That's the first championship, and the expectation is that we put ourselves in a position to win the championship on our terms this year, win the division on our terms.

"So, you've got to have a good defense in order to do it."

Morgan and the front office also worked with intent to help create that. Among his first moves was securing cornerstone pieces Derrick Brown and Jaycee Horn, guys who have been here for a couple of top-five defenses, and also a rebuild. But a Panthers defense isn't really a Panthers defense without pass-rushers and linebackers, so this offseason's strategy was clear. Signing Jaelan Phillips and Devin Lloyd in the first hours of free agency gave the Panthers the kinds of stars at key positions they've needed to have this identity.

"The guys we brought in, I mean, I feel like they're game-changers," Horn said. "Jaelan Phillips, Devin Lloyd, I think they're two of the top guys in their positions in the league, and if any defense gets players like that, it's going to make it better."

How much better is the operative question, but the improvement is clear. Two years ago (when Brown was lost for the year to a knee injury in the opener), the Panthers set an all-time league record for points allowed, and finished last in the league in most categories.

Last year, they rose to 16th in the league, which isn't extraordinary in a vacuum, but the improvement made it distinct. They allowed 77.3 fewer yards per game in 2025, which was the 13th-best single-season improvement in the last 25 seasons league-wide.

Of course, getting Brown back on the field was a significant first step toward that goal, and adding an impact run defender in Tre'von Moehrig was a solid follow-up. But they also continued to build with continuity, mostly in the secondary, where Horn, Mike Jackson, and Scott are in their third season together under defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero and a stable staff.

Dropping stars into that situation helps, but it also takes some time to adjust.

"It just makes everything better," head coach Dave Canales said. "Darrell Bevell told me this a long time ago; he said, ' You don't have to create a whole entire new system when you add great players. All your core stuff just gets better.' And whether it's our four-man rush system with all of our coverages and people helping each other, your rush is better when you add guys like Jaelan Phillips. Whether it's the blitz packages and different ways to use Devin Lloyd, you know, and we still got Tre' Moehrig coming off the edge at times. And those different things, when you add great players, everything just gets better, and the rush gets better, and the coverage communication gets better on that side.

"And so, that's my expectation is that we're able to execute the basics of what we've always done. And now it'll just have a little bit more heat to it with the additions."

Blending those additions in requires an intentional effort, and Brown, a master of simplifying complex topics, just shrugged when asked how it happened.

"It's just about everybody buying in," he said. "It just took everyone buying into the system, and it works."

Canales said the place he's seen the biggest progress from the team has been in terms of the communication between the players on the field, which is the kind of thing that happens when you keep them together and have a natural communicator like Scott in the middle of the secondary.

"The growth of the defense really happened as they started to communicate and play together," Canales said. "I saw that happen down the stretch, play against some really good teams, and they faced some fantastic opponents, obviously the Rams and the Seahawks at the end, the Saints, who emerged as a really pretty potent offense with Tyler Shough getting things going.

"And so I saw the communication really grow, and that really led to the success of it. And then I've seen the carryover coming into the offseason."

Phillips said he's sensed that as well since he arrived, crediting Lloyd for taking control of the huddle.

"I'd say in our communication," Phillips replied when asked where he's seen the most growth. "I think that's been one of the biggest things. When you have a bunch of new guys on the defense, I think getting everybody on the same page can be a little bit of a challenge, especially when guys are new to the system and stuff like that. And so, for us, I think it's been just that communication, playing together. I think we've done a good job. I mean, you get what you emphasize, and so for us it's been making sure we're very communicative and making sure that we're talking pre-snap, and I think just over time the repetition just makes it better. . . .

"(Devin), guys just respect him, admire him, and you know he brings the same, same intensity, same focus every single day, and that's what you need out of your team captain. And so you know, no surprise to me that he came in and was a captain and has basically picked up the defense and is running it like it's his own in a heartbeat."

Evero can sense that as well, and even though Lloyd's in his first year here, he's adapting quickly.

"I would just say when you add a guy like Devin Lloyd to the fold in the middle of the defense, who is a coach on the field, who understands the plan, the game plan, the whys of why we do things, and he's on the grass, and he's able to verbalize and communicate and get everybody on the same page, that is certainly tremendous," the veteran coordinator said. "And so, I think that's where we've made a lot of growth. There's a feeling that we can do more in terms of our operation. How do we adjust versus empty? How do we adjust versus a certain look, or, if we want to get to two or three layers in our calls, all of those things.

"And so, yeah, I'm excited about where we could potentially take this thing."

That's the key to this season, perhaps more than anything that happens on the other side of the ball. When the Panthers have had winning records, they've generally had top-10 defenses, and when they've had them, they've been legitimate playoff contenders.

So as they look around at the dawn of a new season, considering the progress made and the stars added, they believe they're on the way.

"I think we can be really special," Scott said. "I think we can be one of the top defenses in the league, for sure. I think we were, what, around the middle of the pack last year. And we're expecting to improve on that, because we got the guys in the scheme to do it.

"A goal of ours is to just be a defensive-led team, just to drive the bus from the defense. And that has nothing to do with the offense's performance as much as it's just like we want to be the ones that run this thing and set the tone game in and game out. So I think having that mentality paired with just the amount of talent that we have on this side of the ball, I think we can be really special."