Feb. 21, 2026, 1:06 p.m. ET

The most pressing need for the Carolina Panthers is pretty obvious.

Matt Okada of NFL.com recently named each NFC team’s highest priority to address this offseason. For Carolina, he highlights the lack of a pass rush—which has handicapped their defense for the last few years:

Last season, the Panthers ranked dead last in quarterback pressure rate per NFL Pro (26.2%) and tied with the Ravens and Cardinals for third-fewest sacks (30). Their 1.75 sacks per game over the last three seasons is worst in the league and makes them one of just two teams below 2.0 per game (along with the Patriots). They haven’t had an individual player hit double-digit sacks since 2022 and they consequently traded that player — Brian Burns — to the Giants in 2024. In 2025, they didn’t have a single pass rusher over five sacks, with DT Derrick Brown and rookie Nic Scourton each hitting five on the dot. The offense needs a lot of work as well, but Offensive Rookie of the Year Tetairoa McMillan was a great start in that respect. Now Carolina needs to find an impact player (or two) for the pass rush.

President of football operations and general manager Dan Morgan probably agrees with that sentiment. He too pointed out the issue in January.

“Our pass rush, obviously—to me, and everybody in the building will tell you—wasn’t up to par,” Morgan stated in an interview on WFNZ’s Mac & Bone. “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.”

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Morgan and the front office made a concerted effort to amp up the pressure last offseason, with the additions of three notable outside linebackers. The team signed veteran Pat Jones II in free agency, then selected Scourton and Princely Umanmielen on the second day of the 2025 NFL Draft.

Scourton contributed right away, as his 5.0 sacks were tied for the most for Carolina. Umanmielen and Jones, whose first season in Carolina was cut short due to a back injury, combined for 2.5 sacks.

Despite making quite a jump in overall defense from 2024, going from the 32nd-ranked unit to 16th, the Panthers ended up with the second-lowest pressure rate (16.5 percent) in 2025.

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