{"id":714614,"date":"2026-01-29T18:53:16","date_gmt":"2026-01-29T18:53:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/714614\/"},"modified":"2026-01-29T18:53:16","modified_gmt":"2026-01-29T18:53:16","slug":"projected-60-million-star-free-agent-linebacker-linked-to-carolina-panthers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/714614\/","title":{"rendered":"Projected $60 Million Star Free Agent Linebacker Linked to Carolina Panthers"},"content":{"rendered":"

Several areas of the Carolina Panthers’<\/a> defense need to be addressed this offseason, with the most obvious being a pass rusher. Not too far behind that, I would imagine, would be upgrading the linebacker room.<\/p>\n

This season, the Panthers’ highest graded linebacker, according to Pro Football Focus<\/a>, was second-year man Trevin Wallace at 54.2. As a group, they were abysmal in pass coverage, allowing 113 receptions on 139 targets (81% \u2014 YIKES!) for 1,127 yards and seven touchdowns.<\/p>\n

Zachary Pereles from CBS Sports may have the solution<\/a>, although it might be a bit of a pipe dream \u2014 Devin Lloyd of the Jacksonville Jaguars. Pereles expects Lloyd to stick in Duval, but believes the Panthers, Jets, and Commanders could be potential suitors.<\/p>\n

“Lloyd was one of the NFL’s best linebackers this year, and given his breakout coincided with the Jaguars’ breakout and he’s just 27, Jacksonville should work hard to keep him.”<\/p>\n

\"Nathan<\/p>\n

Jan 11, 2026; Jacksonville, FL, USA; Jacksonville Jaguars linebacker Devin Lloyd (0) runs on the field before an AFC Wild Card Round game against the Buffalo Bills at EverBank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images | Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

Lloyd not only checks the box of being a veteran quality linebacker, but he would be an immediate fix to the glaring issue at the position, which is the aforementioned pass coverage. He has nine interceptions over his four-year career, five of which came this season. His coverage grade? 78.9! That would make him the fifth-highest graded backer in the entire league for those who logged at least 200 snaps against the pass, sitting behind only Fred Warner, Zack Baun, D’Marco Jackson, and Devin Bush.<\/p>\n

What could it cost the Panthers?<\/p>\n

According to Spotrac<\/a>, which does a really good job of keeping track of every team’s cap situation, contract details, etc., they project Lloyd to secure a deal somewhere in the neighborhood of $60,432,399 over three years. The Panthers’ top 51 cap space is $12.5 million, so obviously, they will have to get creative in freeing up some money, which is likely the plan, whether they pursue a $20M per year talent like Lloyd or not.<\/p>\n

For his career, Lloyd has totaled 436 tackles, 18 QB hits, 15 tackles for loss, nine interceptions, five fumble recoveries, 3.5 sacks, and one forced fumble.<\/p>\n

– Enjoy more free Panthers coverage with Carolina Panthers on SI –<\/p>\n

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Carolina Panthers linked to two-time Super Bowl champion in free agency<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Several areas of the Carolina Panthers’ defense need to be addressed this offseason, with the most obvious being…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":714615,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2075],"tags":[235,260,2567,7,6,236],"class_list":{"0":"post-714614","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-carolina-panthers","8":"tag-carolina","9":"tag-carolina-panthers","10":"tag-carolinapanthers","11":"tag-football","12":"tag-nfl","13":"tag-panthers"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/115979905954965268","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/714614","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=714614"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/714614\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/714615"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=714614"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=714614"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=714614"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}