All Panthers

Carolina Panthers GM Dan Morgan discusses possibility of carrying 7 WRs

From shorthanded to overloaded? The Carolina Panthers bolstered their wide receiver room this offseason. How many wideouts will the team take into 2025?
Russell Baxter|
Dec 1, 2024; Charlotte, North Carolina, USA; Carolina Panthers wide receiver Adam Thielen (19) celebrates with wide receiver Xavier Legette (17) after scoring. a touchdown to take the lead with 30 seconds left in the fourth quarter at Bank of America Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-Imagn Images
Dec 1, 2024; Charlotte, North Carolina, USA; Carolina Panthers wide receiver Adam Thielen (19) celebrates with wide receiver Xavier Legette (17) after scoring. a touchdown to take the lead with 30 seconds left in the fourth quarter at Bank of America Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-Imagn Images | Bob Donnan-Imagn Images

In this story:

Carolina Panthers

A look at the basic numbers from this past season. Only two teams in the league finished with fewer passing yards per game than the Carolina Panthers. The aerial attack produced only 22 scores, albeit 15 of those came in the team’s final 10 games thanks to a rejuvenated Bryce Young.

Dave Canales’s club was the only team in the league that did not have at least one player total at least 50 receptions. Xavier Legette, the club’s first-round draft choice in 2024, was the leader with 49 catches. Veteran Adam Thielen totaled team highs in receiving yards (815) and touchdown grabs (5) despite missing seven games.

Was it any wonder that general manager Dan Morgan added reinforcements to the wide receiving depth chart? The newcomers include rookies Tetairoa McMillan and Jimmy Horn Jr., as well as former Raiders’ Pro Bowler Hunter Renfrow. As of this writing, the Panthers have a dozen wide receivers on their roster. So what will happen by Tuesday afternoon at 4:00 pm ET when teams have to reduce their rosters to 53 players?

How many wide receivers will the Panthers keep for 2025?

“I think,” said Morgan on Thursday night during the Panthers/Steelers preseason game, “obviously, you know wideout is a deep position for us. So we got to figure out there how many numbers we’re going to keep there.”

When asked if there was a “sweet spot” in terms of how many wide receivers the club would keep, Morgan had this to say. “You usually keep around six guys, sometimes five guys. We have a lot of guys that we like, so there is the potential that we keep seven. You know, looking around our roster, I think we’re still trying to figure out the inside linebacker spot…”

That latter note may indeed determine how many wideouts Morgan and Canales opt to keep. Along with the aforementioned players, there’s also second-year pro Jalen Coker, and veteran David Moore, as well as Brycen Tremayne, T.J. Luther, Jacolby George, Kobe Hudson, and Ja’Seem Reed.

- Enjoy more free Panthers coverage with Carolina Panthers on SI - 

Takeaways from Panthers’ frustrating preseason loss to Pittsburgh Steelers

Stock up, stock down after preseason finale: One red flag, one surprise riser

Panthers can’t feel good about their QB depth as preseason comes to end

Panthers-Falcons trade proposal fills huge roster need for Carolina offense

Published
Russell Baxter
RUSSELL BAXTER

Russell S. Baxter has been writing and researching the game of football for more than 40 years, and on numerous platforms. That includes television, as he spent more than two decades at ESPN, and was part of shows that garnered five Emmy Awards. He also spent the 2015 NFL season with Thursday Night Football on CBS/NFLN.