CHARLOTTE — Panthers general manager Dan Morgan knows that there's a risk involved with trading a known commodity like Adam Thielen so close to the start of the season.

But he also expressed confidence in the young group of receivers, including first-rounders Tetairoa McMillan and Xavier Legette, and Jalen Coker, a "baller" who will step immediately into Thielen's place.

"Anytime you lose a receiver like Adam, it's a big loss," Morgan said. "But at the same time, we're really excited about our young core of receivers. Jalen Coker is going to step into the slot. We spent a lot of resources with XL and TMac, so you know we have guys that we're really excited about, and I think that definitely made me feel more comfortable pulling the trigger and trading him."

That's also a tacit endorsement of quarterback Bryce Young and the rest of the group, and Morgan pointed to veteran David Moore, rookie Jimmy Horn Jr. and the rest of them (they also have Brycen Tremayne and waiver-claim Dalevon Campbell).

"You all have kind of been out on the practice field every day," he said. "I think when you see the way TMac works out there, when you see the way XL works out there, Jalen Coker, David Moore, Jimmy Horn, like all these guys out there like we feel like we have a really good young stable of wideouts that were mentored by a guy like Adam Thielen.

"They're more mature than their age, and I would say even like they're they're more polished than their age too. I don't see any reason why they can't go out there and step up and have a great season, and I have full confidence in them."

Morgan spoke about that and a number of other topics on Thursday as the Panthers head into a weekend off before the start of the regular season.

"Door still open" for Hunter Renfrow

As head coach Dave Canales mentioned on Wednesday, Morgan said he remains receptive to the idea of bringing back former Clemson receiver Hunter Renfrow, who was released on Tuesday.

"I was even texting with him last night, I told him I want him back here," Morgan said. "I talked to his agent, I talked to him. We're in constant communication. Nothing's imminent, but we're going to stay in contact with him, and we'll try to figure something out to bring him back here.

Asked if that was on the 53-man roster or the practice squad, Morgan shrugged.

"I think we're still trying to decide that," he said. "Hunter, I think, is thinking through things, looking at different options, so I think right now it's really up to him with what he wants to do, but we would definitely like to have him back here at some point."

Vikings approached him about Adam Thielen trade

Morgan said he got a call from the Vikings asking if Thielen was available, and after their initial conversation, asked the veteran wideout to come up to his office.

That led to the trade Wednesday morning that sent Thielen home for the equivalent of a fourth-round pick.

"As the GM and as a former player, I like to be open and honest and transparent with the players, so I called Adam to my office and I let him know that they called, I asked him if he would have interest in going back there," Morgan said. "He said that he would. Once he told me that, he was very intrigued, very excited, of the possibility of going there and basically ending his career where it first started. I could tell that he was really excited about the possibility that that might happen.

"I told him I'd do my best to make it happen, but I'm not just going to give you away. We're going to have to get something, fourth-round value or something that we feel for the Carolina Panthers is good, because you're a really good receiver, you're a really good leader. So we wanted to make sure that we got the compensation that we felt comfortable with before we did it, so I'm glad it worked out. It worked out for us, I felt like we got the compensation that we wanted to get, and at the same time he can go and continue his career and end his career where it first started. So I guess you can say it's a little bit of a win-win for both sides. Everybody's happy, but again, we will miss him, but I know our young guys are ready to step up."

Getting Taylor Moton deal done was key to future

Extending right tackle Taylor Moton's contract last week was significant for a number of reasons, including the fact that four of their five starters on the line will be together through the 20207 season.

That keeps them from having to find a starter at Moton's level next year, but Morgan emphasized that level was such that keeping Moton was a priority for a simple football reason.

"T-Mo, he's one of those guys that doesn't get talked about enough," Morgan said. "He's consistently on that right side, consistently being great, consistently protecting the quarterback.

"Nobody pays attention to him because nobody's getting to the quarterback on that side. He's just a great player, even better person. I know that's kind of cliche, but he truly is like a great guy, great player, he's everything we want in a Carolina Panther."

The move fits with the other players they've extended since he's been GM — Derrick Brown, Chuba Hubbard, Jaycee Horn — as the kind of work-ethic guys they want to build around.

And if that seems like a message, that's intentional.

"When you perform around here, and I want the locker room to know that, is when you perform around here and you do things the right way, you're going to be rewarded," Morgan said. "And that's just going to be our philosophy around here now. There's always factors to where maybe you don't have enough money or stuff like that, but if at all possible, we're going to pay the guys that do things the right way and play football at a high level."

Still building depth on the roster

After spending the last two offseasons fortifying both lines in free agency, Morgan has added a lot of front-end talent to the roster.

But as was evidenced late in preseason games, the depth still isn't there.

"I feel like we're still building, we're still building that depth," he said. "We're never going to be content, even when we do reach a certain height, we're still going to be looking and always trying to evolve and get better.

"We're going to try to add depth everywhere, I think to go far in this league and to win against really good teams and to win in really tough environments, throughout a long season, you do have to have good depth. So, I think that we're building towards that."

Taking the long view, while trying to compete now

The Panthers kept 11 rookies when they cut to an initial 53, and added another when they claimed Campbell off waivers on Wednesday.

That makes it easy to assume this is a long-term project, but Morgan also knows they're more competitive now than they were a year ago.

"We're always going to be competing, and this season is no different," he said. "I think the possibilities of the season, they're endless. We're going to write our own story here, and how we write that depends on what we do out on the practice field every day, what we do off the field, and that's kind of what I said in the beginning, is like we're going to have to earn everything. We can write our own story but we're we're only going to do that by working hard and doing things the right way and being very detailed in everything that we do."

Likes what he's seeing from safety group

With free agent pickup Tre'von Moehrig leading the way, the Panthers kept four safeties at the 53, with veteran Nick Scott and rookie Lathan Ransom and second-year guy Demani Richardson creating a group with contrasting strengths.

While the Panthers were linked with a number of veteran options there throughout the offseason, Morgan said he was confident in this group.

"Alongside Moehrig, I think we do have three guys that can go out there and we can play winning football with," he said. "Really excited about Ransom and what he brings out on the field. When Moerhig and him are out on the field together, you can really feel an intensity and a toughness and a physicality that they bring out there. So yeah, we're really excited about Ransom, Demani's made strides he's got really good ball skills and then Nick Scott, he's been in this defense forever. He knows exactly where to be. He's a really good communicator, really good leader out there on the field, so we have, we have guys that are more than capable of playing winning football."