TheSpecialJuan

On the whole, I thought the Panthers did the best job of any team during the first week of free agency and left with a much stronger roster. The team had two major needs on defense that people thought would be addressed early in the draft: pass rusher and off-ball linebacker. They promptly filled both by signing Jaelan Phillips to a massive four-year, $120 million contract and linebacker Devin Lloyd to a three-year, $45 million contract. Not only did the Panthers fill needs by signing the two players, but the vacancies left by Phillips in Philadelphia and Lloyd in Jacksonville are massive holes that those teams must address. Carolina was not done, as they added offensive tackle Rasheed Walker, the four-year veteran who was previously with the Green Bay Packers, to a one-year deal. Considering the serious knee injury suffered by starting left tackle Ikem Ekwonu during the playoff loss to the Los Angeles Rams, an injury that could threaten his 2026 season, it was money well spent on another free agent. Heading towards the draft, the Panthers now have the luxury of looking at other positions. If tight end Kenyon Sadiq happens to fall to the 19 selection of the first round, he has to be a consideration, and they could also target a top cornerback. https://www.essentiallysports.com/nfl-active-news-five-nfl-teams-whose-free-agency-moves-changed-their-twenty-twenty-six-draft-plans/

Dan Morgan is just plugging holes....

The first big piece of news happened early in the day on the West Coast for one of the targets, the next happened after a transatlantic flight with a stop in Charlotte got the other one back to Florida after dark. The day really got going when some of them were in the shower, or working out — not expecting it to happen so fast. The next big piece of news happened while some of them were in bed because they're responsible, or pacing the hallway outside the room where it happened like an expectant father in a black-and-white movie, or sitting on the floor, or crashing on any couch they could find. By the end of a workday that was pushing 17 hours for some of them, the Panthers finally (or again) fell asleep with two priority free agents, pass-rusher Jaelan Phillips and linebacker Devin Lloyd, the targeted strikes they dreamed about but weren't sure they could actually land. https://www.panthers.com/news/gradually-then-suddenly-panthers-moved-quickly-and-patiently-to-land-their-top-free-agent-targets-jaelan-phillips-devin-lloyd

A behind-the-scenes look at the way the Panthers navigated free agency last week to agree to deals with Jaelan Phillips and Devin Lloyd during a very busy but very long first day of the negotiating period. By Darin GanttMar 16, 2026

Sam Martin CARPunter#6 Panthers re-signed P Sam Martin to a two-year contract. NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reports Martin’s deal is up to $5 million. Martin joined the Panthers last season on a one-year deal and wound up booting 56 punts for an average of 47.2 yards per punt. Martin is a 13-year vet of the league who has spent time with four different franchises. He landed a career-best 48.2 percent of his kicks inside his opponent’s 20-yard line last season.

$5 million

#Panthers Luke Fortner: one year, $2.75M, $825K signing bonus, $1.325M fully gtd, salary $1.215M https://x.com/aaronwilson_nfl/status/2033511565933072710?s=46&t=xeIgh_-Vr2aKxBkBJdfnKA

I think the front office’s thought process on these four needs is probably pretty simple: they’re asking themselves at each position, is there a free agent available who can clearly upgrade the roster right now? Free Safety: No obvious upgrade in free agency, so this likely points to the draft Defensive Tackle: Same situation. Outside of older vets like DJ Reader, there’s not much that truly moves the needle, so this probably gets addressed in the draft as well Will ILB: Again, mostly depth-type free agents (Akeem Davis-Gaither, Kenneth Murray types), not clear upgrades — so draft makes sense here too Tight End: This is the one spot where there are potential upgrades available in free agency, like David Njoku or maybe Jonnu Smith So if I had to guess the approach: FS – Draft WILL ILB – Draft DT – Draft TE- We can still upgrade through free agency

Yes, a gay dude

Completely agree. This guy is not an EDGE he’s a 3-4 DE

https://x.com/sleepercarolina/status/2033359647826923571?s=46&t=xeIgh_-Vr2aKxBkBJdfnKA

$9.9m cap hit this year, which is what we expected them to do. Backload the cap hits. Via @spotrac

https://x.com/2growls1roar/status/2033192496222687512?s=46&t=xeIgh_-Vr2aKxBkBJdfnKA