The Carolina Panthers don’t have many questions facing them this offseason. They have needs and holes to fill, but there’s no big question facing them since they’ve already decided to pick up Bryce Young’s fifth-year option.
The core of the roster is coming back. They have double-digit free agents, but forgive me for not thinking Austin Corbett, Nick Scott, and Christian Rozeboom are going to be difficult-to-overcome losses. The same goes even for the best FAs like Cade Mays and Rico Dowdle.
That’s the good news. This roster will largely be the same heading into next season, which is good for continuity. Now for the bad news.
Bad news: The Panthers will likely be the same team in 2026
Carolina Panthers head coach Dave Canales thanks quarterback Andy Dalton | Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images
The Panthers were surprisingly decent last season. They jumped from five wins to eight, winning the division and almost winning a playoff game in the process. The negative point differential is bad, but they were at least a middle-of-the-road team after being bad for almost a decade.
It’s good that the nucleus is coming back and there aren’t any huge, pressing concerns, but that also ties into the bad news. That is a double-edged sword.
Having the same players back next year means there’s not a lot of room for improvement. Internal growth from players is possible and even likely since this is a young team, but with so few actual spots available for newcomers, the possibility for external solutions is diluted.
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Carolina Panthers wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan (4) reacts with wide receiver Jalen Coker | Bob Donnan-Imagn Images
Last year, the Panthers had plenty of openings on defense, and they addressed them aggressively. Now, those holes are not there, so they can’t address them as aggressively, thus limiting the potential for improvement.
They should be better next year just by virtue of improvement from Bryce Young, Dave Canales, Tetairoa McMillan, and Chuba Hubbard. But they can’t make a drastic leap up, so what does a modest improvement from eight wins look like? Probably just nine or so.
The Panthers got better last year, so we wouldn’t trade that out. However, it would be a much better situation if the team had won eight games but had last year’s cap space and roster openings. They could attack the holes in free agency and the draft.
They can still do that, but we can’t expect a Tre’von Moehrig or Tetairoa McMillan to arrive this time. And that’s not good news for a roster still in dire need of a talent infusion.