CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Nick Scott was as fired up as anyone last month when the Carolina Panthers landed two of the biggest fish in free agency with the additions of edge rusher Jaelan Phillips and linebacker Devin Lloyd.

The only problem: Scott himself was a free agent at the time and holding out for money from the Panthers, a stance the veteran safety softened when he saw what general manager Dan Morgan was cooking up for the defense.

“As those signings were happening, I was still a free agent and playing a little hard to get. But once I saw those guys rolling it, I was talking to my agent like, ‘Hold on, man. Maybe let’s go ahead and reach back out to the Panthers. It looks like it could be a fun season, a good defense,’” Scott said with a laugh. “That was exciting to see those guys. It definitely motivated me and my decision to come back here.”

Scott was speaking Monday alongside the putting green at the Club at Longview, where he hosted a golf tournament to benefit the Moore-Myers Children’s Fund. Scott is a spokesperson for the Jacksonville, Fla.-based organization, which seeks to create more golf opportunities for youth in underserved communities.

Scott was joined by several of his former Penn State teammates, including Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley, as well as a handful of his Panthers teammates. That group included wide receiver Jalen Coker, who, according to Scott, “can’t swing a club for his life but he’s out here having fun, which we appreciate.”

Scott and Coker will be back at Bank of America Stadium next week for the start of the team’s offseason program. The Panthers created a buzz last season by winning the NFC South and breaking a seven-year, playoff drought. They built on it with a strong free agent class that received high marks from most NFL observers.

“What an opportunity for us to surround us with guys that can play. The more the merrier,” Coker said Monday before teeing off. “We’re gonna be a force to reckon with this year, and I think other teams feel that and the sky’s the limit for us.”

Panthers S Nick Scott hosting a golf tournament today to benefit the Moore-Myers Children’s Fund, a foundation helping to grow the game to youth in underserved communities. pic.twitter.com/oApv3zUHcA

— Joe Person (@josephperson) April 13, 2026

Morgan has not been shy about throwing money at problem spots in free agency. In Morgan’s first year as GM, the former Panthers linebacker spent big on guards Robert Hunt and Damien Lewis, who have helped solidify the protection for quarterback Bryce Young.

After being outbid for defensive lineman Milton Williams last year, Morgan spread the free-agent dollars among several players, most notably safety Tre’von Moehrig. Morgan attacked the front seven this year with a four-year, $120 million deal for Phillips and a three-year, $41.9 million contract for Lloyd. The Athletic had Phillips and Lloyd had ranked among the top three free agents at all positions.

Former Panthers running back Jonathan Stewart believes Phillips and Lloyd can do for the defense what Hunt and Lewis did for the offense in 2024.

“I loved the Devin Lloyd (acquisition). I loved getting Phillips in here, spending some money,” Stewart said at Scott’s golf event. “I look back at what changed the offense, (it) was going all-in on two guards two years ago. So putting the emphasis on getting some anchors on defense that not only can give you a spark, but gives you a DNA, a little bit of a backbone as far as what guys can expect.”

The Panthers paid a lot for Phillips, who hasn’t had more than seven sacks since an 8.5-sack season as a rookie in 2021. But Phillips has still left in mark in opponents’ backfields. He ranks in the 91st percentile in pass-rush win rate (16.8 percent) over the past four seasons, according to Pro Football Focus.

And he had multiple quarterback pressures in 15 consecutive games last year, a stretch that spanned his midseason trade from Miami to Philadelphia. Only three players in the league have longer active streaks in that category.

“He’s not just a guy that’s gonna get you sacks. He’s gonna be a guy that’s gonna be a motor,” Stewart said. “He’s gonna provide not just getting to the quarterback, but pressure on a quarterback, get the ball out. But not just that – he’s a presence in the run game. He’s a presence when the ball’s away from him.”

With All-Pro defensive tackle Derrick Brown back last year after missing 16 games in 2024, the Panthers defense jumped from last in the league in total defense two years ago to 16th.

But Stewart believes the 6-foot-3, 235-pound Lloyd gives the Panthers something they didn’t have in Ejiro Evero’s first three seasons as defensive coordinator – an athletic linebacker who can blitz or drop back in coverage (the latter evidenced by his five interceptions last year in Jacksonville). That versatility should allow Evero to get creative.

“Getting up there on the line of scrimmage and you have A-gap or B-gap (disguise blitzes), and he’s capable of getting back into coverage. That’s a problem for quarterback(s),” Stewart said. “Because now you can have your secondary get active when you have a guy like that, where you have him press and he drops into some soft coverage and you brink a slot (corner) off the edge. We haven’t really been able to get creative in the sense of disguise pressures and whatnot.”

Scott has played for Evero for five of his seven NFL seasons, beginning with the Los Angeles Rams. He said the defensive coordinator has a knack for putting his players in a position to flourish.

“So just seeing guys like Devin and Jaelan get picked up, I can only imagine how his wheels are turning. You see what he did with Tre Moehrig. That to me is indicative of a guy that knows the game, a guy that knows his players and knows how to put them in positions to be successful,” said Scott, who signed a one-year, $2 million deal after finishing with a career-high 111 tackles in 2025.

“Because (Moehrig) is doing what no other safety is doing in the league, playing on all three levels of the defense,” Scott added. “So that’s a testament to (Evero), and I’m really excited about what he’s got for those new guys coming in.”

Besides the moves on defense, the Panthers also signed former Green Bay Packers left tackle Rasheed Walker to fill in for the injured Ikem Ekwonu and made a switch at backup quarterback, bringing in Kenny Pickett and trading Andy Dalton to Philadelphia.

They also added former Alabama receiver John Metchie III, who caught 96 passes from Young for 1,142 yards and eight touchdowns during the quarterback’s Heisman Trophy season, in 2021, but has yet to find his NFL footing. Stewart is hopeful the two can rediscover the chemistry they had in Tuscaloosa, Ala..

Metchie was among the receivers and tight ends who joined Young this month in California for passing sessions at a training facility near Young’s offseason home. Like Stewart, Coker talked about chemistry when discussing the workouts and the time spent together afterward.

“It was just a good time to have a little camaraderie, catch some footballs, hang out after,” Coker said. “Just to build that chemistry, you can never have too much of that.”