Potential Free Agents from Tampa Bay to Join Canales in Carolina
On Thursday evening, Carolina named Dave Canales the seventh full-time head coach in Panthers' history. The new head coach spent 2023 in Tampa Bay as the Buccaneers' offensive coordinator after spending 13 years in numerous coaching roles in Seattle.
2024 will mark the first time that Canales (alongside first-time general manager Dan Morgan) will get to build a roster in his image. It's logical that Canales will look to his last team, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, for players to add to the barren Carolina roster. Here are a few potential options that Canales may bring in to bolster the Panthers this offseason.
Matt Feiler - Guard/Tackle
Feiler was a free agent in 2023 and was brought in to help fill the void left by Alex Cappa in 2022 and fill in whatever position he'd need to play. Cappa is one of the best guards in football, and his departure two years ago to protect Joe Burrow left a gaping hole in the Buccaneers' offensive line.
Feiler started six games in 2023 and provided value as a depth piece in the Bucs' reshuffled offensive line. For a Carolina team desperate for consistency up front, Feiler could provide that same exact value in Carolina in 2024. The veteran guard has started 79 games in his seven NFL seasons. His veteran presence would be perfect behind incumbent guards Brady Christensen and Austin Corbett.
Aaron Stinnie - Guard
Pretty much copy and paste everything written in the second paragraph about Feiler when it comes to Aaron Stinnie. Stinnie would be a great depth piece for Carolina's offensive line. Tampa Bay's offensive line was a rotating cast of characters, but quarterback Baker Mayfield still had the most successful season of his career. Canales is lauded for his passing game concepts, but his ability to craft an offensive line out of a mixed bag of parts has to be appealing to Carolina as well.
Stinnie started 11 games in 2023, the most in a season in his career, and would provide great depth for Carolina.
Devin White - Linebacker
White is one of the best linebackers in the league, and Carolina has a hole in the second level of their defense. Following the injury to Shaq Thompson, Carolina rotated linebackers like horses on a carousel. White was named to the NFL's All-Pro team in 2020 and was a Pro Bowler in 2021. His production has fallen off since then, and his relationship with fans and the franchise in Tampa Bay has deteriorated as well.
White requested a trade last off-season, and his request was denied. After playing limited snaps in the Buccaneers' playoff loss against Detroit, White went off on fans on social media. He's still a talented player in the prime of his career, and a Panthers team bereft of talent should take a chance on a player who's career needs a revival.
Mike Evans - Wide Receiver
Evans is the pièce de résistance of this free agent class. The 30-year-old wide receiver is in the twilight of his career, but his 2023 season under Canales' watch was as productive as ever.
Evans' extended his record streak of 1,000-yard receiving seasons to 10 straight while scoring 13 touchdowns and making his second All-Pro team.
Carolina is desperate for a true ball-winning X receiver, and Evans is just that. If Canales could bring Mike Evans north with him, Adam Thielen and Jonathan Mingo could slide in to secondary and tertiary roles that fit their skill set and bring out the best in all three players.
It may be a pipe dream for Mike Evans to be a Carolina Panther in 2024 and beyond, but if you were to build Carolinas' dream receiver in a lab it wouldn't look much different than Mike Evans.
