Carolina Panthers president of football operations and general manager Dan Morgan has made one of his offseason priorities very, very clear.
Morgan joined Thursday’s episode of Mac & Bone on WFNZ, and spoke about the outlook of the team following the 2025 campaign. And while the season was a rather fruitful venture, with the Panthers capturing their first NFC South title since 2015, it lacked a major key to success—a consistent pass rush.
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“Our pass rush, obviously—to me, and everybody in the building will tell you—wasn’t up to par,” Morgan stated. “We had the second-lowest pressure rate in the league this year. Obviously, that’s not acceptable. And if you’re not protecting the quarterback and you’re not affecting the quarterback, you’re not gonna win many games in this league—especially at a consistent level.
“So, we know we gotta get there. And like we do every offseason, we attack those perceived weaknesses and we’ll make our roster stronger.”
The Panthers tried making that part of their defense stronger last spring, starting with the signing of free-agent outside linebacker Pat Jones II. Jones, however, would see his first season in Carolina end after just six games due to a back injury.
Morgan and company then double-dipped at the position in the 2025 draft, taking Nic Scourton in the second round and Princely Umanielen in the third. Scourton tied for the team-lead with 5.0 sacks while Umanmielen recorded 1.5.
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As Morgan alluded to, Carolina finished with the second-lowest pressure rate (16.5 percent) as well as the third-fewest sacks (30).
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This article originally appeared on Panthers Wire: Panthers GM Dan Morgan says this position was ‘unacceptable’ in 2025