CHARLOTTE — What a month this week was.
It's not just that the Panthers were busy, because they were. Bringing in a free agent class highlighted by Jaelan Phillips and Devin Lloyd was serious work, and the team is in a better place now than it was a week ago.
But in addition to the comings and goings of the people, the week leading up to the start of the league year is a reminder of the circle of life in the NFL.
On Monday morning, Cade Mays was at Bank of America Stadium getting a workout in. Later that afternoon, he agreed to a deal with the Lions. On Wednesday morning, Brady Christensen was here rehabbing and eating breakfast like normal, but for the last time unless he re-signs because his contract is up. Austin Corbett went through, thanking the athletic training staff, who shepherded him through some tough days of rehab over the last four seasons. They had grown close, and it was emotional. Yosh Nijman retired from football at 30, deciding to forego a chance to continue to play.
And hours later, Phillips comes in with his pregnant fiancée, and Lloyd comes in with his Mom and Dad, and the family expands again. And Friday afternoon, they reportedly reached an agreement with left tackle Rasheed Walker, filling another significant need while they wait for Ikem Ekwonu to heal.
The people always change. That's the nature of the business.
But for the Panthers, the big news underscores what Dan Morgan, Brandt Tilis, and Dave Canales have been building for the previous two years. The Panthers spent a lot of money, yes. But they also convinced people who had options to come here. And that's as big a step as making the playoffs, in many ways.
And now, the work continues.
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Hi Darin! I've seen a lot of national media "experts" questioning the price on the Jaelan Phillips contract. Disclaimer: I don't agree with those opinions. First, he's entering his prime and is a scheme fit. Second, the injury risk exists for every single player that steps on an NFL field. And more importantly, I'm old enough to remember when the Panthers signed Robert Hunt and Damien Lewis for big contracts on the first day of free agency and those same national media members questioned the values of the contract. I ask: where are they now? Not only does no one argue that those contracts weren't good, but they now praise Dan Morgan for solving the OL issue. Also, the Bears did the same blueprint last season - Ben Johnson explicitly cited the Panthers about that. No questions, just a rant really. But if you don't agree, feel free to tell us why. Thanks! — Fernando, São Paulo, Brazil
I mean, sure, it's a lot of money. It's also not my money, which allows me to take the emotion out of the transaction. Staying out of other people's pockets increases your happiness. Trust me.
But the other big number is the salary cap, which is $301 million this year, which means that even at the full reported annual average of the deal, it's still less than 10 percent of the cap. I'm old enough to remember when Sean Gilbert's seven-year, $46.5 million deal represented an eighth of the entire cap when it was $52 million. So numbers change.
The reality is, young pass-rushers with production (sacks depend on a lot of variables, but Phillips' advanced pressure metrics show a guy who is always around the quarterback) rarely reach the market at all. So you have to factor in that scarcity when it's time to make a deal.
The most important part is getting your guy, and the Panthers got the pass-rusher they had rated highest on their free agent board. That's worth a lot.
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What happened?! I confess to taking the winter off from football, preferring to savor our return to the playoffs, rather than sweating whether our team would improve quickly or slowly, as usual. Instead, it's been an offseason of debating the direction of my baseball teams. I did just stumble on two things: a blurb that the Panthers have little cap space, and a decent article about the free agents the Panthers might hope for at various positions, so I decided to check in.... "Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain!" If I have learned anything about pro football in recent years, it's to pay no attention to what they say about cap space! The good teams seem able to add studs regardless. Have we become that good?! We suddenly bagged the top guys on that article's list at about five key positions, and retained about five more of our own! Holy cow! So, I guess the question is, am I the only guy who still says the best thing we can do for our QB is Get The Ball Back!? Y'all raise your hands if you agree that's just what we arranged for this week. — Dean, Zionville, NC
The salary cap is real; the real variable is what you choose to invest in. And by opting for premium pieces rather than bulk, the Panthers gave themselves the opportunity to improve significantly on defense. And while they spent a lot of money, they only spent money, hanging onto all their draft picks in the process.
Lost in a lot of the talk about Phillips and Lloyd is how much better they should make Derrick Brown, Jaycee Horn, Nic Scourton, and Tre'von Moehrig.
The Panthers suddenly have a lot of young talent on defense, in the way they haven't in years. And after making the jump from 32nd in the league in defense to 16th in a year, it's reasonable to expect more progress.
Scourton showed a lot of Mike Rucker-like traits last year. Rucker went to his first Pro Bowl after he teamed up with Julius Peppers. The Panthers defense was good in 1995 with Lamar Lathon and Darion Conner at outside linebacker. It was elite when they added Kevin Greene to the mix, and he and Lathon combined for 28.0 sacks in 1996.
That elite pass-rusher is a force multiplier, making the guys on the other edge, and the guys inside, like Brown (who had a career-high 5.0 sacks last year), that much more dangerous. It also shortens the amount of time Horn has to cover. And a linebacker with range like Lloyd allows Moehrig to come forward and do the things he's good at. So if you think of it as improving six spots and not just two, you're closer to the true impact of those two deals.
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Another middle of the night, one-handed typed question while rocking a baby back to sleep:
With the announcement of the Maxx Crosby trade to Baltimore for two firsts, I imagine many Panthers fans are once again curious about why we couldn't fetch more draft capital for Brian Burns when we traded him to the Giants. Both players were drafted in 2019 (although Burns was a first-round pick while Crosby went in the fourth), both have had 69.5 sacks so far in their careers, and both seem to have a similar speed-rush style of play. Both are/were expensive at the time of their respective trades during the offseason. I realize this may be asking you to rehash something you have already explained, but I am curious about your thoughts on what makes these two trades different enough to merit such discrepant compensation.
Thanks, as always, for educating the rest of us! — David, Midlothian, VA
Who's going to tell him?
Actually, this is still a valid question, despite the Ravens backing out of the deal with the Raiders for Crosby.
Mostly, it comes down to the contract. Crosby had three years left on his, though there was talk about adjusting it. Burns was on the franchise tag, meaning he was a free agent at the end of the following season. So the cost-certainty creates value.
But some of the personal aspects of that deal complicated what the Panthers could get back (they had been talking to him about an extension for years and gotten nowhere). When there's competition for an asset (as there was in Crosby's case), the value goes higher. When everyone knows you're going to move a player, it cuts into what you can ask in return.
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My Dad passed away last week after battling a couple of different types of cancer for a while. He beat one of them, but the other was of the "matter-of-time" variety, and time ran out. He bought me my first and only Panthers jersey in the team store at a MNF game against the Bucs back in '08, about ten sizes too big then, but something I grew into and still wear for nearly every game.
We went to about eight games during that heartbreaking season and many more over the years. Football and the Panthers were always a common interest between us. That jersey Dad bought me has the number 51 on it, and it says Mills on the back (our surname, too). I'm proud of the way Wes Mills (himself a former linebacker) fought his fight, and I just wanted to take a moment to praise him here. No question today, just love and sorrow and a bunch of good memories. Keep Pounding! — Jake, Candler, NC
Oh no, Jake. I'm so sorry. On behalf of the whole Mailbag family, which has always lifted others up in moments of struggle, our condolences.
Your father was obviously a man of taste in his choice of jerseys for his kid, but he also realized the most important thing was creating those memories that transcend the football stuff. The time spent is worth more than any ball game or jersey or amount of money spent on either one. I'm glad you guys have those memories, and I know that every time you pull on that jersey or watch a game or come to the stadium, you'll be thinking about him and what he meant to you.
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Oh, Great Swami of Pantherdom! Free agency is approaching rapidly, and the myriad of "expert" posts have us signing more than a dozen of the highest-priced free agents available. I have great faith in our leadership troika and its plan for building smartly this year and next. Should we expect a flurry of restructures, releases, or cautious extensions to create cap space? Should we expect one or two high-impact signings coupled with several mid-level (sleeper) signings, or all second-tier signings to build eventual starters and/or backups? Thanks for the great info and a fabulous Mailbag. P.S. I love my FOTM shirt. — Tom, Garner, NC
I think they're going for it. I think there will be two splash signings on Day 1. They need impact. And then they'll get a late-week bump to fill a major need.
(Checks time stamps, oh wait, Tom sent this last week. The point stands.)
They've created some cap room with restructures, but that's not really a big deal. If it's a guy like Derrick Brown, you basically plan on doing that from the moment he signs, so it's not headline news or anything. And there could be more to come, though most of the heavy lifting in free agency is done, especially after Friday afternoon's reported deal with former Packers left tackle Rasheed Walker.
They'll still add some dudes; there are a couple of spots on the depth chart that are a little lean. But what they've got is largely what it's going to look like once they draft and add a dozen or so undrafted rookies.
Enjoy that shirt, Tom; all the cool kids are wearing them. And now that it's spring, time to get the short sleeves rocking.
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It seems like the Panthers are starting to build some depth. That hasn't been the case since the Cam/Luke era. This is exciting to watch. The big signings seem well thought out. Resigning Isaiah Simmons seems wise, and I really like the John Metchie III pick-up. This seems sustainable. Do they solidify the O-line in the draft now? — Willie, Birmingham, AL
Simmons could be a guy who becomes a fixture on special teams, and he showed in the playoffs that he can be impactful there. And Metchie is a great story with a chance to create a role for himself. He's a well-rounded special teams player as well, so he has a shot.
Drafting offensive linemen, plural, seems reasonable, even with the Walker news on Friday, because that's a one-year deal. They signed Stone Forsythe for depth after sensing that Yosh Nijman was thinking about life after football. (Nijman announced his retirement on Wednesday night on social media.)
With Ikem Ekwonu's timeline uncertain after he tore his patellar tendon in the playoff game, they need more bodies at the position, for sure. And even with Walker, you'd always like to have some younger players in the pipeline. Whether it's 19, 51, or otherwise (you can see a full list of their picks here), they're likely to add.
That's true on the interior as well. Even after finding a capable center in Luke Fortner in free agency, they're not going to cross that off the list for April.
The Panthers have invested heavily in the line, with big-ticket purchases in Hunt, Lewis, and Taylor Moton. So finding some balance on the payroll moving forward will be important.
But sustainable is a good word for what's happening here.
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We have been PSL owners since 2010 and have only missed a handful of games. Before each game, the introductions rotate between offense and defense starters. Never once has the special teams been introduced. How does Supreme Panthers Legend JJ Jansen feel about this? What will it take to get the Panthers to introduce special teams before a game? Has JJ ever been introduced? — Patrick, Concord, NC
Excellent offseason question, Patrick, because it gave me a chance to commit a journalism and try to coax the reclusive Jansen out of his shell.
Once I finally found him, he acknowledged that he did not, in fact, take this slight personally. Because above all, Jansen is a good teammate first.
"It does not offend me to not run out of the tunnel," he replied simply.
Partially, that's because every week before the game, Jansen receives a recognition that can't be replaced by smoke or pyro. At approximately 90 minutes before kickoff each week, he's the guy responsible for showing fans the uniform combination in real time when he runs out for warmups, along with an acknowledgement of his weekly record-breaking status.
No one else gets that kind of treatment.
"One of one," Jansen acknowledged.
Speaking of Jansen, if you're not tuning into the JJ and Luke podcast he hosts alongside some guy named Luke Kuechly, you're missing out.
Their free agency episode this week featured a live breakdown of the Jaelan Phillips deal, and so much more.
It's quickly becoming appointment viewing.
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Happy New Year, Darin! Hope you and the rest of the content team are having a good time! Thank y'all for everything that y'all do up there.
My question today is actually kind of a skip ahead in the offseason schedule. Given that we won the division (on a technicality sure, but Futurama taught me that technically is the best kind of anything), played quite possibly the best wild card game, have the reigning offensive rookie of the year, and in general just seem to be ascending (especially with the departures from all of our division rivals), what do you think are the odds we get more prime time, "Island" games? And if so, do you think we're going to get any at home? — Nate, Charlotte
Well, we know for sure they're going to play in the first game of the year in prime time, when they square off against the Cardinals in the Hall of Fame Game.
As far as the regular season, I think it's reasonable to expect a little more shine.
As noted, they made the playoffs a year ago, they have some guys with name recognition now (and added a couple of more this week), and things are getting better.
More than anything, things have stabilized here. They're out of witness protection. The franchise is back in a place where players want to come here, and know they can do something once they arrive. And once that happens, things like television appearances come more often.
And the environment for that Rams playoff game was special, and one that tends to create future opportunities under the lights.
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Hello, and thank you for all you and Kassidy do to keep us updated on the latest developments. I was reading all kinds of information from other writers and columns pertaining to who the Panthers should draft. Wow, it made my head spin! Playing the armchair GM was thinking; QB, OT, and defensive end are very expensive positions. Considering our current situation and thinking about the future, and out of the box, wouldn't taking an OT or even a QB be wise in the first round? I mentioned QB only because it'll be nice to have a backup growing in our system, just in case (I'm a huge fan of Young.) Secondly, OT would be nice too because of our situation currently, and after this season, if Moton retires? What are your thoughts? Oh, by the way, I'm enjoying a delicious Cuban sandwich as I type this in your honor. Thank you again for all you do. — David, Brooksville, FL
The cool thing about improving the whole roster is that you have more options come draft weekend. As I often say, they had a Dan Morgan when they drafted a Jon Beason, and they had a Jon Beason when they drafted a Luke Kuechly.
I still think offensive line will become more of a focus in April, but it's not the only spot. I could see them adding an even younger-than-Kenny Pickett quarterback to the mix and keeping three (but not in the first round).
While tackle was more of a need before the Walker deal, you don't let free agent moves change the way you draft if you want to succeed long-term. Filling needs in free agency doesn't eliminate draft possibilities, it increases options. So once they get around to 19, I could see them drafting an offensive tackle, a tight end, a linebacker, a defensive tackle, just about anything, really. It'll be about the guy, not the position.
Cubans are great, but when I leave work today, it will still be a Friday in Lent, so there's one thing on the menu. That's right, a Bojangler. If maximum deliciousness is a thing you desire, order it on a biscuit instead of a bun and thank me later.
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Hello Darin, my question, do the Carolina Panthers ever draft HBCU players, and do you think they can eventually make the team? — Fabian, Haw River, NC
Not only do they, they did from Day 1.
Fort Valley State's Tyrone Poole was the first defensive player the Panthers ever picked in the draft, 22nd overall in 1995. (They used their first pick to trade down to No. 5 and take quarterback Kerry Collins that year as well.)
Poole scored the first defensive touchdown in franchise history as well, with his pick-six in the 1995 Hall of Fame Game — which he recounted here.
But he's one of a few to come through here from the HBCU ranks. In fact, Poole and three other former Panthers are in the Black College Hall of Fame.
Running back Richard Huntley from Winston-Salem State led the Panthers in rushing in 2001, as part of his six-year career in the NFL. Guard Nate Newton (Florida A&M) and outside linebacker Greg Lloyd (Fort Valley State) each played their final NFL seasons here in the 1990s as well.
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Hi, Darin! I'm excited for the new league year, but more excited that I got my plans finalized to be able to see Mr. Kuechly's Hall of Fame enshrinement ceremony! I am not familiar at all with the Canton, Ohio area, so I need your expert opinion on restaurants and other options for entertainment besides the Hall of Fame itself! Thanks! — Susan, Inman, SC
I knew Susan wouldn't miss this year's enshrinement of Luke Kuechly.
My first suggestion is to book now, because even though I consider it the Happiest Place on Earth, Canton is not a major metropolis. Which is part of its charm, and Canton-Akron Airport is one of the cutest and most pleasant airports in the world.
And obviously, the Hall itself is stop number one. But Canton has lots to offer. We're going to get into more of these details as the summer goes on, but there are a few highlights.
No real city is complete without a presidential homeplace (Greater Charlotte has two), and the William McKinley Library is there, along with the National First Ladies Library. The Gervasi Vineyard is sublime. Bender's Tavern was the site of some of the real business of football's founding days, but there is no shortage of great spots there. It really is a delightful place. And so you don't get homesick, they even have a Bojangles on Everhard Road, where they make their Bo-Berry Biscuits in the shape of little delicious footballs.
But don't miss the Hall of Fame parade on Saturday morning downtown, it is one of the most wholesome things you'll ever experience.
I love Canton, and will not apologize. I've even threatened to purchase a vacation home there. My wife isn't sure if I'm kidding.
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And on that note, let's go lightning round, brought to you by the patron saint of the lightning round Jeff from Fuquay-Varina, to close it out this week.
Hey Darin. Took my full leave time, and switching from zone to man defense at the end of last year has taken up much of my time. But, on the eve of returning to work and assuming you'll post one more 'Bag before Free Agency begins, I'm wondering if there are any specific players you feel our 'Thers will make a splash for? — John, Waxhaw, NC
Nope. That's a personal foul, 15 yards. I do not recognize 'Thers as an appropriate nickname (although I did see it on a license plate this week).
What's the update with Jonathon Brooks? Will he be ready for OTAs? — Jeff, Clayton, NC
The Weekly Jonathon Brooks question has arrived, gang. He's here and working, and seems to be on track. When well, he's one of the fastest dudes on the roster, and he seems to be well. Especially with Rico Dowdle leaving for Pittsburgh, he has a big opportunity.
I'm getting confused with the manning of a 3-4 defense. Does that mean there are four guys up front, and three more at the next level, or vice-versa? And how many linebackers are actually involved? We just signed two good ones on the first day of free agency, but one is also referred to as a 'pass rusher,' while the other seems to 'play the middle.' I seem to recall only two linebackers playing for the most part last year, unless the pass rushers are also considered linebackers. Help!!! (Thanks). — Ron, Sarasota, FL
Football's not as complicated as some people make it. In a 3-4, there are three linemen and four guys at the next level. But in reality, the two outside linebackers often function the same way a defensive end in a 4-3 does. On the roster here, we just refer to them as OLBs and LBs, but the jobs are different. The OLBs like Phillips are your pass-rushers, and the LBs like Lloyd are the inside guys in the mold of a Luke Kuechly or a Thomas Davis.
Thanks so much for taking my question ("Dan vs. Dave") in the last Mailbag. And thank you (!) for making me a Friend Of The Mailbag. I know you select someone each week, but I'm not exactly sure what that actually means — Josiah, Green Bay, WI
It's a position of high prestige, that requires you to walk through life thinking of others, doing your part every day without expectation of praise, remembering that we're all human beings with wants and needs who deserve a little grace now and then, and understanding that at the end of the day, this is supposed to be fun. Mostly, be part of a community. Spread joy whenever possible, help people out when they need it. It's not easy, but it is simple. If it was hard, I couldn't do it.
Also, it means you get a cool T-shirt.
What happened to the inflatable Sir Purr? — Katie, High Point, NC
Still in the closet, but that's a vintage garment at this point, so you can't wear it all the time. Unlike a cool T-shirt, if you're fortunate enough to own one.
Hi Uncle DG, I know that these things are down the line, especially training camp. But I got to ask with the excitement and anticipation for the upcoming season, are the Panthers planning on hosting a draft party at Bank of America Stadium? And also with regard to training camp, is there any chance that back to camp first Saturday practice will be open to the fans, either at Bank of America Stadium or maybe even in Wofford or Clemson? Thanks, and let's go, Panthers. — Shaked, Charlotte
I haven't heard any plans for a draft party (haven't had one since 2023, when they had the first pick, though we've traditionally greeted the pick here the next day in an open-to-fans event), and it's way too soon for training camp. Fan Fest is still a thing, though, so stay tuned closer to camp for more details on that.
The excitement around the team is real, though, there's no doubt about that. That's something they've earned by doing the work.
