As the Panthers prepare for the draft, Dan Morgan's always open to deal

Apr 22, 2026 at 11:19 AM

Darin Gantt

CHARLOTTE — Dan Morgan is a matter-of-fact human being, and a matter-of-fact drafter.

So, to the Panthers' general manager, the process of picking 19th is not all that different than picking in the top 10 like he did last year.

"Not much," he said. "Not much at all."

The one place he admits being deeper in the draft order complicates things — and that complication came by virtue of them winning the NFC South last year — is when it comes to trading.

It stands to reason that the lower you are in the order, the less valuable your trading chip, so fewer opportunities to move around exist.

And the Panthers do like to move around.

Related Links

In the two drafts Morgan and vice president of football operations Brandt Tilis have presided over, they've executed six trades during the draft, not including moves involving existing players.

They've moved up (to get pass-rushers Nic Scourton and Princely Umanmielen last year). They've moved back (to recoup a 2025 second-round pick during the 2024 draft). They've also moved players (adding a fourth-rounder that became Trevor Etienne for wide receiver Jonathan Mingo in another deal).

But perhaps the best business is the trade they didn't make, when multiple teams wanted to get up to No. 8 to take wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan, until Morgan held fast and chose the offensive rookie of the year.

Through it all, Morgan and Tilis do all the prep work in advance so they can quickly ascertain value when a call comes in and move decisively. They use a program developed by vice president of football analytics Eric Eager to gauge the likelihood of how the board will fall, and act accordingly.

"I think just like we did when we were at pick 8, we'll do the same thing at pick 19," Morgan said. "We'll go over every different scenario of who we think's gonna be there, the way we stack our board, going through mock drafts with Eric Eager's app that he made.

"So we're going to be prepared for any and every situation. We're going to have the players targeted that we really like, and obviously, if this guy comes off the board, here's our next guy. So we're going to be ready, right?"

This year's draft is unusual in that six teams already have multiple first-round picks because of trades.

The Jets (No. 2 and 13 overall), Giants (No. 5 and 10), Browns (No. 6 and 24), Chiefs (No. 9 and 29), Dolphins (No. 11 and 30), and Cowboys (No. 12 and 20) create the opportunity for excitement.

Tilis shrugged when asked about that possibility, though, saying most deals happen in a more traditional way.

"Usually teams that have multiple picks in a round are more likely to trade," Tilis said. "So I could certainly see there being more first-round trades this year. That's possible. It's not anything that we've really thought about as far as targeting trades.

"Usually with trades on draft day. It usually just comes down to calling your friends and seeing if they're willing to do a deal or not. Those are the ones that tend to work the best for both sides."

That's the way it worked last year with the four-for-four swap with the Broncos, when the Panthers sent 57-74-111-230 to Denver for 51-85-122-208.

The driver in that wasn't the deal; it was the player, as Scourton was someone they had a high grade on and didn't want to risk losing in the ensuing six picks during a run on pass-rushers.

"I thought somebody was going to take him at the end of one," Morgan said. "I think that goes into the scenario planning, to where you're like, OK, this team needs outside linebackers. If we want them, we'd better go up there.

"That's why we traded up for Scourton, and the same thing with like Princely, they're not going to last much longer, so if we want them, we'd better go get them."

Of course, the Panthers have been active in free agency for the last three years, filling a number of key areas, and after signing outside linebacker Jaelan Phillips and linebacker Devin Lloyd this year, they enter the weekend without any glaring needs that have to be addressed.

So as they wait for their turn to pick on Thursday night, they'll approach it the same way as always.

"Philosophically, we have an open-minded mindset," Morgan said. "We're open to anything, whether it's moving back, whether it's moving up, if we feel like a guy can be an impact player for us, I do think all options are on the table. . . .

"It's really no different in terms of the process. We're gonna be ready for any and all scenarios that present themselves. You don't know which guy is going to fall. A lot of things can happen unexpectedly, so we've just got to be ready for any and all scenarios, and that's what we've been doing in the draft room every single day, is just planning for that, and getting ready."