{"id":711754,"date":"2026-01-28T15:35:26","date_gmt":"2026-01-28T15:35:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/711754\/"},"modified":"2026-01-28T15:35:26","modified_gmt":"2026-01-28T15:35:26","slug":"3-players-panthers-must-re-sign-this-offseason-after-flaming-out-of-playoffs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/711754\/","title":{"rendered":"3 players Panthers must re-sign this offseason after flaming out of playoffs"},"content":{"rendered":"

For the first time in nearly a decade, the Carolina Panthers<\/a> didn\u2019t spend January watching someone else\u2019s future unfold. They were in the fight. They won the NFC South. Bryce Young looked like the guy<\/a>. Bank of America Stadium hosted meaningful football again.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s what makes this offseason so delicate. When a team transitions from rebuilding to contending, a couple of things happen. First, the expectations inflate. Second, the margin for error shrinks. The Panthers don\u2019t need splashy resets or emotional overcorrections, though. They just need continuity. The wrong departures now could undo the fragile ecosystem that finally allowed Carolina to matter again.<\/p>\n

Season recap\"CarolinaJim Dedmon-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

The 2025 Panthers weren\u2019t supposed to be here. After years of false starts, Carolina scraped together an 8-9 record<\/a>. In a chaotic NFC South, though, that was enough to claim the franchise\u2019s first division title since 2015. More importantly, it marked the arrival of a new identity under head coach Dave Canales<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Young\u2019s development was the headline. With a stabilized offensive line and a defined offensive vision, Young finally played free, decisive football. His chemistry with Tetairoa McMillan transformed the passing game. Meanwhile, a recommitment to the run, which was powered by Rico Dowdle<\/a>, gave Carolina balance. Defensively, Ejiro Evero\u2019s unit wasn\u2019t dominant. However, it was disruptive enough to keep games within reach. That reinforced a team-wide \u201cstubborn\u201d mentality that refused to fold.<\/p>\n

Playoff flameout<\/p>\n

That belief carried into the Wild Card round, where Carolina hosted the Los Angeles Rams. It was a game that felt like a referendum on the rebuild. Young passed it. He threw for over 300 yards and three touchdowns. He also engineered two fourth-quarter drives that briefly put the Panthers ahead. For long stretches, Carolina looked like it belonged.<\/p>\n

Then reality hit. A leaky pass defense couldn\u2019t hold up late. Matthew Stafford carved up coverage<\/a> in the final minute for the decisive touchdown. The 34-31 loss hurt<\/a>, but it also revealed the truth. The Panthers weren\u2019t overmatched. They were incomplete. That distinction matters.<\/p>\n

Offseason needs<\/p>\n

The Panthers enter 2026 with momentum and exposure. The pass rush remains a glaring weakness, finishing near the bottom of the league in pressure rate. Without consistent heat, even good coverage breaks down, as the Rams proved.<\/p>\n

The offensive line is equally concerning. Injuries to Ikem Ekwonu and Robert Hunt, combined with looming free agency for Austin Corbett and Brady Christensen, threaten to dismantle the very unit that unlocked Young\u2019s leap. Linebacker is another pressure point with Christian Rozeboom hitting free agency. At the same time, the offense still needs a reliable slot option and tight end to complete Young\u2019s tool kit.<\/p>\n

Before chasing upgrades, though, Carolina must secure the players who made 2025 functional.<\/p>\n

WR Jalen Coker<\/p>\n

Key stats: 33 receptions, 394 yards, 3 TDs<\/p>\n

Coker didn\u2019t dominate headlines, but he dominated trust. Yes, McMillan stretched defenses vertically. That said, Coker became Young\u2019s security blanket. He led the team in third-down conversions and punished zone coverage with surgical precision. His playoff performance said everything. Against the Rams, Coker erupted for 134 yards and a crucial fourth-quarter touchdown. He repeatedly bailed Carolina out of high-leverage situations.<\/p>\n

Quarterback\u2013receiver chemistry isn\u2019t theoretical but lived. Coker understands Young\u2019s timing, tendencies, and escape lanes. As an Exclusive Rights Free Agent, Carolina controls his future. However, settling for a one-year tender would be short-sighted. A multi-year deal locks in continuity and ensures Young\u2019s two most trusted targets grow together instead of starting over.<\/p>\n

RB Rico Dowdle<\/p>\n

Key stats: 236 carries, 1,076 rushing yards, 7 total TDs<\/p>\n

Dowdle was the backbone of Carolina\u2019s offense. His second straight 1,000-yard season gave the Panthers a physical identity and kept defenses honest. He averaged 3.2 yards after contact per carry. That turned dead plays into manageable downs and making play-action viable. More importantly, Dowdle protected Young. His pass-blocking reliability allowed Canales to call deeper-developing concepts without fear.<\/p>\n

This is about practicality. Dowdle understands the scheme, excels in pass protection, and provides three-down reliability. Letting him walk would force Carolina to spend premium draft capital fixing a problem that isn\u2019t broken. It would also introduce risk to Young\u2019s development at the most dangerous position to experiment.<\/p>\n

S Nick Scott<\/p>\n

Key stats: 111 tackles, 1 interception, 3 passes defensed<\/p>\n

Nick Scott arrived on a one-year prove-it deal and became the nervous system of Ejiro Evero\u2019s secondary. He played the deep eraser role, communicated coverages, and prevented the back-breaking explosives that plagued Carolina in prior seasons. In the playoffs, Scott\u2019s intelligence showed up repeatedly. He broke on routes early, closed windows, and bought the defense precious seconds.<\/p>\n

Jaycee Horn and Mike Jackson give Carolina stability at corner. That said, a defense without a communicator at safety collapses under pressure. Scott knows Evero\u2019s system and executes it with veteran precision. Re-signing him ensures continuity while the front office invests resources in the trenches and linebacker level.<\/p>\n

Arrival or regression\"CarolinaMandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

The Panthers didn\u2019t stumble into relevance but built it. Of course, relevance is fragile. Letting chemistry walk out the door in the name of novelty would be the fastest way to turn a breakthrough into a blip.<\/p>\n

Re-signing Jalen Coker, Rico Dowdle, and Nick Scott isn\u2019t flashy. It\u2019s foundational. And for a franchise that finally knows who it is, protecting the core may be the most aggressive move of all.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For the first time in nearly a decade, the Carolina Panthers didn\u2019t spend January watching someone else\u2019s future…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":711755,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2075],"tags":[1476,235,260,2567,3838,18731,7,6,18732,2592,236,7152],"class_list":{"0":"post-711754","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-carolina-panthers","8":"tag-bryce-young","9":"tag-carolina","10":"tag-carolina-panthers","11":"tag-carolinapanthers","12":"tag-dave-canales","13":"tag-editorials","14":"tag-football","15":"tag-nfl","16":"tag-nfl-editorials","17":"tag-nfl-free-agency","18":"tag-panthers","19":"tag-rico-dowdle"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/115973465134889941","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/711754","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=711754"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/711754\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/711755"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=711754"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=711754"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=711754"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}