Carolina Panthers Mailbag: No Trades, First-Place Matchup, and More

The Carolina Panthers did not have a busy week, but there's plenty going on with them. It's an important week moving forward, and there are some key storylines coming up. Here's what you need to know.

No trades?

Carolina Panthers general manager Dan Morgan before the game at Bank of America Stadium | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

This, to me, feels very much like the Panthers using a cop-out. The NFC South is abysmal, and the day before the deadline, both the New Orleans Saints and Atlanta Falcons offloaded good players. That leaves the Panthers and Tampa Bay Buccaneers at even strength.

The Panthers have lost three in a row and obviously feel no sense of urgency. They are going to get healthier, but until then, how much longer can they keep losing? The Panthers don't have a ton of flexibility to make moves, so it's not all that surprising. It is a little disappointing, though.

A team in a tight divisional race, with the ridiculous number of injuries the Panthers have sustained, should be adding players to offset the losses and keep them in the race. Instead, the Panthers seem to be banking on everyone else being just as bad. It may well work out, but they could've taken matters into their own hands and probably should have.

First-place on the line

When the Panthers were 3-2 and in first place, life felt so good. It felt like they were about to really seize control and take a huge step forward as a franchise. Three losses later, life does not feel good, but they incomprehensibly remain in first place.

That is, until Sunday. A fourth straight loss, this time to the New Orleans Saints, would hand the division lead to the Saints. It's only the middle of the season, but this is a monumental matchup. It is borderline must-win.

The Panthers have overlooked the Saints far too much over the last couple of seasons. Dave Canales-led teams often come out flat when there's a moment like this. Hopefully, that won't be the case this week, but it's hard to have much confidence there.

On paper, though, the Panthers should be slightly better than the Saints here, but that really hasn't mattered before.

Bryce Young's rising price tag

Carolina Panthers quarterback Bryce Young (9) runs against the Denver Broncos | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Reports suggest that the Panthers and Bryce Young are on their way to an extension worth over $50 million. This is both fair and unfair, appropriate and inappropriate. The report came out during that brutal two-week stretch in which he took 11 sacks, but he's back on the upswing again.

The version of Young we've seen this year, including those two awful games, is absolutely worth $50 million. He's made the most porous offensive line work to the tune of the fourth-most yards per game. He's had to endure receivers coming in and out of the lineup with injuries and a rookie play-caller.

The "problem" is that it's a small sample size. I fully believe this version of Young is here to stay, and that he will never again be questioned as a starting-level QB. The thing I wish would happen is the Panthers using his bad first two years and mediocre third year as a way to get a discount.

Sadly, it doesn't work like that, but it would help the team out a lot. But ultimately, Young has earned a lucrative extension with his play, and that's really all anyone can ask for.

New defensive coordinator

The defense under Todd Wash for his first game as coordinator was not night and day from Ejiro Evero's, but it was better. It's going to take some time for the players to adjust to a slightly new system, so we still saw some lingering Evero things last week and may this week.

What we didn't see, though, were third-and-long conversions (excluding pass interference conversions, but when you're working with practice squad cornerbacks, that's what happens) due to inexplicable coverages. They stopped the run pretty well, too.

They flocked to the ball and played downhill a lot more. The system still needs to be ironed out, but Wash has the players playing hard, and there's not much more we can ask for in the wake of firing a coordinator.

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