CHARLOTTE — It's been a busy month for Brandt Tilis and the rest of the Panthers front office.

But as the executive vice president of football operations talked about a spring that included signing premier free agents Jaelan Phillips and Devin Lloyd, he knows they're just part of a larger whole.

But that work, it was still substantial, and impactful.

"I think we did a lot of good work in free agency — in fact, I know we did," Tilis said on Tuesday. "And it was a collaborative effort amongst our operations staff, analytics, scouting, and coaching. Everyone played a big role in getting all the work done that we did, and we're all very proud of it."

Tilis, who came to the Panthers after his time as the salary cap guy and chief negotiator for the Chiefs, said that as aggressive as they were this year — it was their third straight year of landing big-ticket free agents on the first day of the negotiating period — it was also important to keep what they're doing in context.

"I look at the team building process in three stages — it's building, contending, and sustaining," Tilis said. "And I think of it like climbing up a mountain. I think right now, we're somewhere between building and contending, and we can see where it all plays out.

"We're still adding good players to our roster. We are more competitive than we have been in the past, and we can just see how it plays out from there."

When he was with the Chiefs, he lived that process in real time, when the acquisition of quarterback Patrick Mahomes (and subsequent record-breaking extension for him) kept them atop the league. When a team goes to five Super Bowls in six years, and wins three of them, it's fair to say he's seen what "sustain" looks like.

And for the Panthers to get there, he knows what comes in the next month will be just as important, because they won't always be in the position to spend the way they have lately, or want to.

"Contending to sustaining probably means dipping your toe less in free agency," he said. "And it's more about retaining your own players who you've drafted, and relying on the draft to bring in your talented players.

"It's a hard stage to get to, and not many teams do, and I hope we get there."

Some of that work was done for them, as Tilis and general manager Dan Morgan extended former first-round picks Derrick Brown and Jaycee Horn, giving the team a base of talent on defense that makes signing players such as Tre'von Moehrig, Phillips, and Lloyd more impactful.

They've also balanced that by creating the conditions for flexibility. Of the nine outside free agents they've retained, along with 14 of their own free agents, only Phillips, Lloyd, and veteran punter Sam Martin signed for more than one year. Of the 74 on the roster at the moment, only 29 of them are under contract beyond 2026.

"It's really hard to sustain anything when you're signing a bunch of one-year deals," he said. "You really want long-term deals to sustain, and you also need to be able to continue to draft well.

"It really comes down to drafting well and having a really good process, and if we have that, then yeah, I think we can get pretty close to that sustaining level."

Bryce Young "ascending," no contract update

Last summer, Tilis said he hadn't gotten to the point of working on quarterback Bryce Young's next contract, noting that Young was an "ascending player."

"Nothing's changed, I got the eval right; he was ascending, so nailed that," Tilis joked. "I was happy about that, but no, we haven't had any discussions with his agent about a contract, and any that we would have, we would just keep them internal anyway. So, it's still the same, still evaluating and just curious to see where it all goes, and very excited about Bryce and all that he brings to us."

The Panthers are picking up the fifth-year option on his rookie deal, which keeps him here through the 2027 season, but Tilis said he didn't rule out talking more later this year.

"I'd never rule anything out, but I can't tell you affirmatively yes or no," he replied when asked if those talks might commence.

"Alignment" critical in free agency

Tilis said that communication between him, Morgan, and head coach Dave Canales — as well as the entire staff and owners Dave and Nicole Tepper — was critical as they enter free agency.

And while improving from two wins to five to eight and a playoff berth provides some proof of concept, it also serves as evidence that their process is working.

"The trust that we have is critical," he said. "When we get into those conversations, Dave, Dave, Dan and I, we don't always agree, but the trust is critical so that when we come out of the discussion, we're all aligned, we're all on the same page, and we fully support each other in the decision that we're making. And we do believe that whatever we do is in the best interest of the organization, even if it's something that one of us wasn't necessarily in favor of walking into the room. So, yeah, having that trust to and support from each other is, is everything with our decision-making process.

"And it extends also to ownership. They have the trust in us, and they support us, and they've just been great throughout this process, this free agency process, as well as the last couple of years here."

No breaks on price in free agency

Morgan said last week that he could tell Carolina was becoming a more attractive destination for free agents, based on how quickly things developed on a few fronts.

But as the guy who's watching the money go out, Tilis said that doesn't mean players are taking less to come here (noting that didn't even happen in Kansas City). Instead, it's about having "a seat at the table" when negotiations begin.

"Our first year here, we had to really sell the build in Carolina and the vision," he said. "And now players see it, so there was less recruiting.

"But at the same time, it was still a contract negotiation. We weren't cut any breaks. Nobody cut us a deal or anything like that. We just were able to get to the answers quicker."