Chris, what do you think about A Carolina Panthers, Charlotte Hornets colorway uniform, like the Panthers wear a Charlotte Hornets, maybe like a little teal with purple and and white, maybe I’m, I’m, I’m kind of thinking that would look cool. I think um all professional teams should do alternate color ways with the professional teams that they share a city or a state or region with. I think that should be a thing. I, you know what, as long as the Carolina Hurricanes, as long, hey, I’m for it. As long as the Panthers don’t play like the Charlotte Bobcats, I’m cool with it, right? Let’s get this sucker started. Get dialed in Panthers fans. Here comes an in-depth look at your team. Exclusive interviews locker room insight. Let’s huddle up for Panthers Playbook. Here are your hosts, Dennis Cox and Chris Lee. Welcome back to another episode of the Panther’s Playbook. That’s Chris Lee. Dennis Coxy with you. Drop down in the comments below. What your favorite eagle. Yeah. What’s your favorite color combo? Like favorite color uniform combination of the Carolina Panthers wear? What’s yours, Chris? What’s your favorite? The Panthers uniforms, what’s your favorite combination? I am very much so partial to the blue jerseys. I think that should be their regular home jerseys. I think that the all black uh look, including the black helmets, should be like the special one that they bring out a couple times a year. Um, it doesn’t have to be all blue all the way down with the pants. I like the blue jersey black pants. Um, type of thing, I do think the Panthers should look into an alternate helmet outside of the all-black helmet that they have. I think a blue helmet would be, would go pretty hard, right, go pretty hard, and I think, uh, that’s something they should definitely look into, uh, for sure. I’m wondering, this whole make your mark thing with the four scratches, wow, you know, that they have made me wonder, is that maybe possibly an alternate. Uh, logo for a possible alternate uniform. Hmm, that’s a possibility. That’s a guy, you know, I didn’t think about that, Chris, because I know that was a thing that was floating around with the, with the 4, you know, the four claw marks, but they’re still gonna keep the key pounding moniker, but leave your mark is kind of the marketing thing for this upcoming season for the Carolina Panthers and Question is on, on the field, who’s gonna leave their mark? And let’s be honest, Chris, there are some deficiencies out there when it comes to looking at this roster as training camps, it’s about a month or so away. There are a lot of spots that we know there’s actually gonna be really good competition in terms of position battles, wide receiver being one, defensive line actually being the other, but there are some spots out there where you’re like, man, they could probably use another guy, safety and safety and corner, especially. Before I get to that, I just want everybody to spam the comments and tell Dennis Cox, happy birthday, because by the time you’re watching this, it’s either already there or it’s coming up, but hey, happy early birthday to you as we’re recording this. And I’m recording this, I’m recording this while sick, by the way, so you know I’m doing this for the people. Hey, look, for the people, orange juice. And champagne, we’re gonna do some mimosas for you, just make it go crazy. You’re gonna have the vitamin C and you can pop those bottles at the same time. Um but as far as for the Carolina Panthers, one of the things, um, you know, I was a little saddened when I saw Jair Alexander get signed, um, because he was one of the guys that I thought could possibly be a good fit uh for the Panthers because they’re going to need Um, somebody else as a cornerback. I am very much so comfortable with rolling out JC Horn and Mike Jackson as your top two corners. However, uh, as we saw with the wide receiving corps, as we’ve seen with the defensive line, as we’ve seen with the offensive line, um, it doesn’t hurt to add more. Um, talent to any position in your in your uh roster. I’ve never heard a team say they have too much depth, Chris. It’s never heard a team say, you know, we’re too deep, you know, it’s like what if Mike Jackson, uh, was just one of the options, right? And he could be a good piece, you could put in in certain situations because you have a giant Alexander along with uh a JC Horn. That’s not gonna happen, but there are some other people out there. And it got me thinking, um, you know, who could they go after? Uh, of course, uh, Rasseul Douglas, I liked Rasseul Douglas when he was with the Panthers, and I thought he was somebody they should have fought to try to keep anyway. That was always my thing, um, I think they made the decision between uh to keep Dante Jackson over Rasseul Douglas and also Stefan Gilmore. Uh, I love Dante Jackson. I just thought, I always thought that was the wrong move. Uh, I thought if you’re gonna try to push to keep anybody, try to keep Russell Douglas, try to keep Stephon Gilmore, um, and, and actually Stephon Gilmore is available I don’t, I don’t know if, um, you know, it’s too late, uh, pretty much in his career, but it’s, you know, even though he’s not what he once was, he’s still, he’s not a slouch, you know, he’s he’s somebody who can definitely add. Uh, to that room. I’m not sure if you bring in Stephon Gilmore that he’s a starter right now though. Which is a big thing, if you’re gonna put him on your roster and take a roster spot, he needs he needs to be on the field playing with special teams in some way, shape, or form. And and that’s and that’s where I feel like uh Rasseul Douglas probably is maybe the better idea um because I think you come you bring him in, automatically I think he’s he’s a starter, um, and you know, Mike Jackson, you’re you’re fighting to get your time back on the field, which is fine, I’m fine with that, uh, because, you know, chances are somebody will get injured. Um, but that corner horn being included, JC Horn being included, that cornerback room is big, and also the safety room, man, um, you know, Justin Simmons. Hey Justin, he’s still out there and he wants to uh play uh with uh somebody who is either Vic Fangio or comes from the Vic Fangio system and Hey, Iiro Evro comes from that. He’s in that lineage. So Evro was the defensive coordinator in, in Denver while Justin Simmons was there. So there is familiarity already and there’s already that familiar familiarity. And so, uh, with, uh, with You know, I know Fangio is uh with uh Philly. Philly just won a Super Bowl, so that might be a little bit more intriguing if the money works out. But if that’s not the case, I really do hope that the Carolina Panthers are in the running to try to get Justin Simmons because he’s somebody who can, uh, I always thought it was unfair with him in Atlanta last year like. That’s, that’s crazy. So we, we need that him and Trayvon Merrick, I think will be a good marriage possibly. So it looks like Damani Richardson, second year player, from what I saw at mini camp last week, Chris was getting work with the first team from what I saw, working with the ones, you can say, um, as a free safety again, he’s an undrafted free agent last year. Showed a knack for being around the football a bit and the opportunities that he did get to play. He was around the football a lot, especially in past coverage. So can he elevate? But the question is, what’s even after him? They just drafted Lathan Ransom in the 4th round out of Ohio State, but might be more of that in the box type safety, similar to what Trayvon Merrick, now Dan Morgan. Has stated that, hey, don’t underestimate Trayvon Merrick’s ability to play, play deep in coverage. Like, don’t underestimate that even though much of his career he’s been up towards the line of scrimmage. And then you have Nick Scott who’s a special teams guy. Like, that’s OK. You need to have guys like Nick Scott that can play special teams on your squad, on your 53. So the question is, Do you bring in Simmons to play that free safety role? And if he doesn’t play well enough over to Monte Richardson, Then what’s his spot on the team look like? These are all questions you have to weigh in and balance. Like, OK, would, would Simmons be willing to play special teams? Does he do that? That’s something that all has to be taken into consideration because when you’re putting together 53 guys on your roster, you not only are taking into account moves that you gotta make for this year, but how does that impact your roster in 2026, 2027? That’s where all position battles and stuff all come into play as well. So, I am curious to see if they’re gonna bring in a veteran. Or 2 in the secondary as depth and competition at some of these spots because I think to me, I guess we’ve mentioned already corner and safety because after you get on corner right now, I love Shaw Smith we as the nickel. Now he played outside in college, but if he has to move outside because you don’t have the depth out there, then who plays the nickel spot? You know, like, so really there’s, there’s competition for a few different spots in the secondary for some roles, and I don’t know if those guys are currently on the roster or not. Jamar Bartholomew, getting some rave reviews from Dave Canalis, Chris, during this, during this offseason, but we didn’t see it really much of any time last year. And I’m, I’m sure for him some of it was you spend a whole, you’re, you know, you’re a rookie one, he’s and he spends his whole offseason with the Jets. Jets cut him right before. And he’s picked up by the Panthers, and so in season, you’re learning something completely different than what you’ve just been doing for months with the Jets, and so I’m sure for him, that was a part of the, you know, not him not playing as much last year, and Dennis also, I wish I could give you a hug right now because you sound. Horrible, I’m fighting it. You sound, you really sound like you’re fighting. Um, here’s another guy. I’m not injured, I’m hurt, but I’m playing, he’s hurt. He he can still show up. Here’s somebody else that I thought of too, and he spent a cup of tea with the Carolina Panthers, I think 2 years ago, um, Shaquille Griffin. Now I don’t expect Shaquille Griffin to come in and and push JC Horn or Mike Jackson at all. Right, I think if you bring him in, he is like, Corner 1 and 2 is Horn and Jackson, and that’s secured, right? What I think it does help with, and you brought it up was you brought that up before, is with special teams. He’s at the part of his career, and he’s somebody who also used to be in Seattle where Dave Canales once was. And I, I think that for him, he knows that if he wants to be in the NFL, he’s got to do everything asked of him right now, right? Like he doesn’t have the luxury as uh as a veteran to say, hm, I’d rather not. Yeah, like, alright, he’s, you know, like you saw, um, you know, what’s my man’s name, uh uh who who went to tight end, um, Jordan Matthews like Jordan Matthews had to do a little bit of everything to try to stay on the roster and that he didn’t even really help him. He’s Not with the Panthers anymore. So, um, I think Shaquille Griffin could be one of those types of players. It adds some depth to that room. There’s not a lot of pressure to have him activated every um every game, but if he is activated, he can be a good backup to Mike Jackson and JC Horn. He can also play special teams, and it feels like that will be uh somebody who could be a good Uh, death piece if, you know, somebody like a Justin Simmons or Rasseul Douglas doesn’t quite work out and it also adds on, uh, to play special teams which the Panthers need as well. It’s interesting you mentioned tight ends, Chris, with Jordan Matthews. If we go to the offensive side of the ball, I think that’s the biggest area of need because Tommy Trumbull with the back surgery. Might come back during training camp, maybe, but again, this is a guy who’s rehabbing just to get on the field as opposed to training to get ready to play. You don’t even know if he’s gonna be ready for week one of the season. Again, they project and hope that it’ll be back by the end of the preseason, and it’s a back surgery. You just, you just don’t know. Let’s be honest. You just don’t fully know what the recovery is gonna be like for Tom. Tremble. And then you have 2nd year player Tata and Sanders, you have, uh, as well as, uh, Mitchell Evans, the, the, the tight and they drafted in the 5th round, who, by the way, I, when watching him in at mini camp last week, you could see that short 10 yard burst where he was like one of the quickest guys in 10 yard splits. You could see that burst out there live in person. It’s like, OK, this guy can get open quick. But that’s it. Like that’s really it. It’s JT Sanders, 2nd gear tight end and Mitchell Evans rookie. And then it’s a bunch of just other undrafted and, and just no name guys that we just don’t know that maybe they keep one extra guy around just because again, you don’t know what Tommy Tremble’s gonna be able to provide for you at the beginning of the. Season, who knows, but tight end might be an option of where the explorer to get something, just another veteran guy that could be the #2, 3 tight end, at least early on in the season, because right now that’s looking like a pretty thin spot. Even though those two guys, I’m, I’m intrigued by their upside, but there’s a lot of unknown. Let me know if I sound crazy, uh, at all with this, but just a suggestion, I thought about it just as you were talking just now. Uh, but since there is a lot of unknown known with tight ends. If you can’t go to free agency and pick somebody out, if you can’t get anybody, remember Panthers, uh, use this a lot, they use the waiver wire, uh, they would pick 8th in the with the waiver wire, um, once, you know, people start picking their 53s and if somebody happens to cut, you know, their 3rd or 4th tight end, that could end up being the Carolina Panthers’ 2nd best tight end. Let’s say, um, Trimble starts the season on PUP. Um, then, you know, if the Panthers don’t make any moves or bring anybody else in, do you now look at the situation and say, well, wait a second. This doesn’t necessarily help our tight end group. But we do have Raheem Blacks here that we’re comfortable with. We still have, of course, Cuba and Rico who, you know, they’re not playing special teams. Those guys are gonna be, you know, running the ball for us. We also have uh Trevor ETN and do we figure out maybe packages where we can use uh an extra uh running back, um, you know, in, in situations where a tight end would have been running a route. Maybe, you know, we can use an extra running back in and bring in 4 and and uh running backs on on the 53, have two tight ends as we’re waiting for Trimble to come back and essentially, that’s the that’s one of the tryouts between AETN. And um and and Blackshear, um, for when Trimble comes back. What, what are your thoughts about that? I’m just putting that out there as a potential idea. Well, I don’t think ETN is going anywhere, so I think, I think Raheem Blackshear’s roster spot is definitely up for grabs. I think the play actually would be Chris. Now, the Panthers last year ran 3 wide receiver sets I’m sorry, 71% of the time last season, I think the number was. OK. Keep your top 7 wideouts. Like that might, that might be the play. It’s like, hey, you know what, if we’re thin at tight end, we don’t like keeping, you know, an extra body as a tight end just for the sake of having a body. Let’s keep 7 wide receivers until Tommy Trimple is actually ready to go, then figure it out from there. That might be the play. I don’t know. We can, we’ll actually dive into a wide receiver position because that’s definitely a, a position battle for sure, uh, with the wide receivers. Maybe that’s the move, but I. I still think if Tommy Trimble isn’t ready to go, you still find the 3rd tight end because when you think about it. If JT Sanders or Mitchell Evans goes down, you’re down to 1, and that’s not a spot that you want to be in, especially if you want to go goal line situations, you’re trying to go heavy packages, you’re gonna need 2 or 3 tight ends at least at minimum in those types of situations. So you’re gonna need to find an extra body in some way, shape, or form, uh, but we’ll get into some of the other position battles and stuff next week. Stay tuned, folks. But I. I, I, they, maybe, maybe the play is like, hey, there’s a team out there that has, and we got 4 good tight ends on our team, but we’ve had a couple of injuries at wide receiver, and we need to see that, pick up a 5th guy. Hey, Trey David Moore. To go be another team’s 5th wide receiver, you give us your 4th tight end. That might be a move that takes place in, you know, just a player swap one for one. That could be a move that could be the move that waiver wire, I mean, there’s there’s definitely uh some options there for the for the Panthers, but um, you know, that’s on offense, that’s really the only side um or or I guess offensive group that I’m worried about, really. There’s still some Like, I think there’s still some things Bryce needs to prove. There’s still some things that folks in the tight in the wide receiver room need to prove. There’s some things that like Ikey Aquanu and Austin Corbett uh need to prove, but uh other than that, everything else is like pretty much put together for for the offer, you know, it’s just pretty much just picking up where you left off, um. You know, I don’t, I don’t think anything like big needs to be done at linebacker. But I will say, um, if you feel like you can still get stronger. In the middle uh of of of the of the defense, if let’s say, um, and I think, you know, Trevon Wallace, all the, all the steps he was able to play last year should take a big step up. I like Jozy Jewel, uh, and what he, you know, was able to bring last year, but, you know, let’s say Christian Roseboom. Isn’t exactly what you thought he’d be, or, you know, you know, John Ratigan doesn’t look like he can, you know, get on the field at all, you know, he’s just a special teams guy because that linebacking core was one of the, had a lot of some of the most injuries last year. They were decimated. We were down to like the Claude and sharerless and other guys, right? Um, do you try to maybe look at Putting some more competition in that room as well. That’s not something, you know, it’s I’m OK with the room, but I’m also like I think the only person that I’d be, I’m afraid of losing right now is Trevon Wallace, if that makes sense. Just because he’s young and we still have to see what he can end up being. Other than that, That could be a revolving door for all I care, you know, it’s like anybody can go as long as we’re we’re getting better. That’s kind of how I feel about that. That’s I was actually hoping that they would pursue Jermaine Pratt when Jermaine Pratt became a free agent. He’s a North Carolina guy who signed with with Vegas for a one year deal. He is a high points a 336 guy. So I, I was actually disappointed that uh that Pratt. I mean, maybe they did, maybe they did offer him something. I just don’t know, um, but I was like, man, Jermaine Pratt would be a good, a guy to add into that mix of things. And I have no problem with ragan being a core 4 special teams guy because they they’re gonna need some of those with Sam Franklin gone, um. Uh, was it Thomas, the other defensive back that they signed last season, like him being gone. Felipe Franks was a core 4 special teamer as well. Like you need some of those guys that are gonna cover and be part of all those coverage teams and return teams. You need a core 4 guys, and if Ratigan’s that guy, that’s fine because he’s on, he’s on rookie contract. Inexpensive, that’s OK. You need those guys on your roster. So I’m, I’m OK with that too, but it’s interesting though, Chris, even with all the offseason moves that they made on defense, there’s still major questions on defense about this team, the depth. In your defensive line, I’m pretty good with the We’re familiar with the names that we’re now with with Edge rusher, but we still just don’t know because you have, you’re relying on two rookies this upcoming season, but I, but once you get past that front line, there are questions and you know, and this is, I’m bringing this up way too early, but um. If Iro happens to have a freaking amazing year, right? Because they got them better players. And if he’s gone, How are you gonna replace him? Or if it’s another bad year, you decide to replace him. Uh, and you decided to get rid of them. How are you gonna replace him there again? And the part that that kind of worries me a little bit is that you’re going to have to probably get, and there’s enough guys out here, but you’re probably gonna have to go get somebody that runs the 34, because you’ve made a lot of investment in the way you’ve put your defense together so far with that. Because the part that I’d be worried about now is if, you know, there is no Ero because he was freaking awesome or he was still, you know, the defensive coordinator of the worst defense in the league, right? And there’s no Eo next year. Um, if you get a guy who’s a 4 or 3 guy. You literally, besides JC Horn and um, you know, and and and Derek Brown and maybe a couple others, you’re literally retooling the entire defense again. Because there are guys who are there specifically for this defense. So, um, where does that leave the Carolina Panthers then and then we’re still talking about, you know, where we were before, where, you know, acceptance flipped, where before it was always the defense that was propping up the offense. This time it’s gonna be the offense propping up the defense again in 2026. So uh it’s way too early. But that’s something that’s been on my mind though, and I just wanted to put that out there. It’s been on my mind. we will cross that bridge when we get there, Chris. We’ll cross that bridge when we get there. I hope you can cross the bridge to some great sleep after that NyQuil you’re about to take, man. Uh, yeah, I’m gonna need to after we get this thing edited and uploaded. Uh, by the way, um, my favorite color combination, black helmet, blue jerseys, black pants. I’m with it. I like that color. I’m 100% with it. I love it. Let’s just not wear white jerseys 13 times this season, please, for the love of God. You know, I don’t, I don’t mind the all-whites though. I think the all whites look clean. I think the all whites need an update though. I’m with it. I think there there’s some tweaks that needs to be done, maybe a little bit more processed blue trim there, but this is where that blue helmet could really thrive. You got the all whites. With a little bit more trim instead of like the black numbers, maybe have the blue process blue numbers with the black trim, right? A few little updates. You think so? With the black trim, I think the black trimmer helped set it off some still have the trim, and then you have the blue helmets. Hey, hey. Hey, Hey, hey, I’m not saying I’m just saying. Yeah, I just don’t want to wear white jerseys 13 times this season. I just don’t, I mean did that last year. I hated it. I hated it, and I know I’m not the only person that feels the exact same way. Part part of it is because it’s so hot early on, and you’re at home, when typically NFL teams will wear their, you know, dominant color jersey, uh, at home, the Panthers would wear the white. To give them the cooling advantage. That’s what I’ve heard. Wear the blue, that’s what I’ve heard, but that’s again, processed blue. You’re right, it’s cooling. It’s cooling, it’s cool looking. Yes. Make a Hornets alternate uniform, make it happen, pepper. Make it happen, Panthers. Again, leave your thoughts in the comment section. What’s your favorite color combo? Uniform, helmet, jersey pants. Let us know in the comments. And Chris, I’m gonna go drink some more hot tea. I’m gonna continue hydrating. I got a plate of vegetables. I’m about to go. Eat as well. I’m gonna go recover, get ready for the birthday weekend. Love you, Chris. Be good, sir. Grapes would be good. You know I actually had grapes earlier today. Type in, type in, type in. Happy birthday, Dennis. Let’s do it. Let’s do it. Y’all be good.
