Carolina Panthers Actually Aced the Offseason; Why One Report Card is Unfair

The Carolina Panthers have been deservedly getting a lot of praise for their offseason. To sum it up, here's a bird's-eye view of the biggest moves Carolina made:

Signed Jaelan Phillips
Signed Devin Lloyd
Signed Rasheed Walker
Signed Luke Fortner
Drafted Monroe Freeling
Drafted Lee Hunter
Drafted Chris Brazzell II
Drafted Sam Hecht
Drafted Zakee Wheatley

Ordinarily, a handful of these moves in one offseason would be pretty good. Doing all of them is highly impressive. Bleacher Report's Brent Sobleski gave the team a B, which is a pretty good grade.

We don't think it truly does justice to the offseason the Panthers had, especially when teams like the Dallas Cowboys, Las Vegas Raiders, and New York Jets got A grades. The Panthers were at least as good as those three.

The Panthers deserve an A for their offseason work

Georgia Bulldogs offensive lineman Monroe Freeling is selected by the Carolina Panthers | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

The Panthers managed to address pretty much every major hole on the roster in one offseason with one exception: tight end. One could argue that that's their biggest hole, but it is obvious the Panthers don't really want to add firepower there.

The Dave Canales offenses haven't used tight ends, and Carolina had endless opportunities to upgrade and didn't. It's intentional, most likely. Everything else, though, has been addressed.

They added a gem safety in Zakee Wheatley. They upgraded the offensive line while patching up the left tackle and center holes with good players. They upgraded on the interior of the defensive line with Lee Hunter.

As for both Jaelan Phillips and Devin Lloyd, there's probably no better combo of free agents to sign with one team than those two. One could argue they were the best free agents at their positions. Rasheed Walker has a case at left tackle, too.

Bleacher Report's Brent Sobleski gave them a B, and he lauded the moves on defense. He said that Lloyd and Phillips will be difference-makers, but the offense didn't add any such players. He said the Panthers are "in a waiting game to see if quarterback Bryce Young will develop."

Both points are fair, but they're not enough to dock them in the grade. Yes, the Panthers heavily invested in defense and is seemingly letting the offense improve on its own or with marginal investments.

But that's really all anyone can do. The Panthers came in with two mediocre units on either side of the ball. The offense was very mediocre, and while the defense improved in 2025, it was still a back-half defense in almost all metrics.

NFL teams only have so much they can do in one offseason. It is not feasible to take two middling units and turn them both into top-tier groups in one spring. The Panthers elected to take on the defense, and it should be a genuinely good unit.

The offense may not be, but that's the plan the Panthers had. Plus, Sobleski even admitted that a handful of moves might actually improve the offense, too.

"The organization did invest a first-round pick in offensive tackle Monroe Freeling, while also signing veteran Rasheed Walker, to help offset Icky Ekwonu's injury loss, as he continues to recover from a late-season ruptured patellar tendon," he wrote.

Sobleski concluded, "Plus, the third-round selection of Tennessee's Chris Brazzell II should add a vertical element to the passing game."

Tennessee wide receiver Chris Brazzell II (17) blows a kiss to the crowd after scoring a touchdown | Angelina Alcantar/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Essentially, the Panthers have improved the offensive line for now and the future. They didn't add a high-profile weapon when they had the chance, but they're betting (and it's a safe bet) that one of Brazzell, Xavier Legette, or John Metchie will be good enough as a WR3 behind Tetairoa McMillan and Jalen Coker.

One of them has to work out well enough this year, and that will help the offense improve a little bit, giving them a decent offense and a good defense. In one offseason, there's just not much more that can be done, and that's without even considering Carolina had little cap space to begin with.

It was an excellent offseason, and it certainly warrants an A grade.

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