{"id":840709,"date":"2026-03-29T10:56:48","date_gmt":"2026-03-29T10:56:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/840709\/"},"modified":"2026-03-29T10:56:48","modified_gmt":"2026-03-29T10:56:48","slug":"betting-odds-reveal-whether-carolina-panthers-really-improved-in-free-agency","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/840709\/","title":{"rendered":"Betting Odds Reveal Whether Carolina Panthers Really Improved in Free Agency"},"content":{"rendered":"<p id=\"inline-text-0\" class=\"mt-[18px] md:mt-0 mb-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6c\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/nfl\/panthers\/onsi\/news\/nfl-insider-claims-panthers-improved-most-without-massive-overpays\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">The Carolina Panthers are a pretty improved team after free agency<\/a>. Or, they&#8217;re not really, depending on who you ask. Plenty of NFL outlets believe the Panthers got a lot better, while <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/nfl\/panthers\/onsi\/news\/panthers-didn-t-improve-as-much-as-we-thought-for-one-reason\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">others aren&#8217;t so sure. <\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-1\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6f\">Aside from forming your own conclusions after a wild free agency period, there&#8217;s one way to cut through the fog and see exactly how much better the Panthers are, or <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/nfl\/panthers\/onsi\/news\/pete-prisco-the-panthers-much-worse-free-agency\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">if they&#8217;re somehow worse<\/a>: the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbssports.com\/nfl\/news\/who-won-the-nfl-offseason-betting-market-identifies-two-surprise-standouts-while-colts-rank-last\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">betting odds<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-2\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6i\">Prior to free agency, the Panthers had an over\/under below seven wins, so the oddsmakers expected them to regress in 2026. After signing Devin Lloyd, Jaelan Phillips, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/nfl\/panthers\/onsi\/news\/former-browns-star-help-solidify-panthers-offense-free-agency\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">and others<\/a>, are they expected to win more or less?<\/p>\n<p>Betting odds prove Panthers are a better team after free agency<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/01kmr3d8tnkzdrfz2wz3.jpg\" alt=\"Philadelphia Eagles linebacker Jaelan Phillips (50) looks on during warmups prior to an NFC Wild Card Round \" title=\"Philadelphia Eagles linebacker Jaelan Phillips (50) looks on during warmups prior to an NFC Wild Card Round \" width=\"5562\" height=\"3128\" class=\"undefined w-full w-full blur-[5px]\" q:id=\"6v\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Philadelphia Eagles linebacker Jaelan Phillips (50) looks on during warmups prior to an NFC Wild Card Round  | Bill Streicher-Imagn Images<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-5\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6z\">According to the shift in betting lines from earlier in the offseason to now, the Panthers are the most-improved team in the entire NFL. No team has seen their odds shift forward more than the Panthers, which is a good indicator that they spent well. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-6\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"72\">On February 19, CBS Sports&#8217; RJ White reports that the Panthers were at 6.6 wins (DraftKings). Now, after signing two star defenders and a couple of good offensive linemen, they&#8217;re sitting at 7.3. That 0.7 change is bigger than everyone else&#8217;s.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-7\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"75\">White said that the addition of Jaelan Phillips, as costly as it is in value and guarantees, it does put the defense in a better spot. At least in terms of these odds, it doesn&#8217;t matter if the Panthers got the best value. They&#8217;re better now than they were. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-8\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"78\">&#8220;It&#8217;s clear the Panthers defense is seen as undergoing a significant upgrade this offseason,&#8221; White wrote. &#8220;The Panthers did lose defensive lineman A&#8217;Shawn Robinson, center Cade Mays, and running back Rico Dowdle, but the market has elevated the Panthers more than any other team in terms of win total since our initial look at the DraftKings odds.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-9\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"7b\">The line is still a little bit low in our opinion, but it is a whole lot better than the opening line. They were expected to not even reach seven wins after winning eight and getting more chemistry, more development, and other additions? <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-10\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"7e\">Now that they&#8217;ve made those additions, the Panthers look like a much better team, and they are. For what it&#8217;s worth, the 7.3 line is now higher than the Falcons (7.1), but it&#8217;s lower somehow than the Saints (7.5), and Buccaneers (8.45).<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/01kmr3fn7b99pnypttdz.jpg\" alt=\"Jacksonville Jaguars linebacker Devin Lloyd (0) during AFC practice \" title=\"Jacksonville Jaguars linebacker Devin Lloyd (0) during AFC practice \" width=\"7160\" height=\"4027\" class=\"undefined w-full w-full blur-[5px]\" q:id=\"7o\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Jacksonville Jaguars linebacker Devin Lloyd (0) during AFC practice | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-12\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"7s\">We&#8217;re not sure exactly how the oddsmakers have come up with the Buccaneers, who collapsed and are aging (and lost Mike Evans and Lavonte David) are going to win over eight games and not the Panthers, but that&#8217;s a story for another day. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-13\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"7v\">Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem and wants help, call 1-800-GAMBLER. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Carolina Panthers are a pretty improved team after free agency. Or, they&#8217;re not really, depending on who&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":840710,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2075],"tags":[235,260,2567,7,6,236],"class_list":{"0":"post-840709","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\/116312107598352830","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/840709","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=840709"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/840709\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/840710"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=840709"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=840709"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=840709"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}