Why It’s Actually Good the Raiders Didn't Poach Panthers DC Ejiro Evero

News broke on Sunday that the Las Vegas Raiders were planning to hire Seattle Seahawks offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak for their head coaching vacancy. What does this mean for the Carolina Panthers?

It means the final team that had interviewed defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero passed on him. The Arizona Cardinals, the only other team without a head coach, hired one shortly after the Kubiak news, meaning Evero struck out again.

He'll be back with the Panthers for a couple more seasons, although he'll probably get head coach looks every offseason now. Fans may wish the Raiders had hired Evero so they could be rid of the defensive coordinator.

It would have given the Panthers two third-round compensatory picks, and those can be extremely valuable. However, despite some potential disappointment, the Panthers are probably in a better place by keeping Evero.

It can be difficult to build a team without continuity. Continuity from 2024 to 2025 really helped in a lot of areas, including the defense. It may have been surprising that Evero was extended after a historically awful season, but the Panthers were betting on that continuity.

Their bet paid off, as the Panthers defense was very much improved despite no first-round draft picks coming in. Evero did a much better job with better players.

Carolina Panthers helmet before a game against the Green Bay Packers | Jeff Hanisch-Imagn Images

Throughout his tenure, the Panthers have been pretty bad on defense. The advanced metrics aren't kind, and most of the traditional stats aren't too pretty, either.

But at the same time, Evero's scheme needs a few things the Panthers don't have. And until this season, one could argue that the Panthers also just didn't have much talent on that side of the ball.

In Evero's three seasons, he's had no linebackers and one edge rusher (Brian Burns in 2023, and he wasn't quite the same Burns we saw this year in New York). It is borderline impossible to play good defense without a good pass rush, and that starts off the edge.

Plus, if Evero did move on, the Panthers would probably have to promote from within. Sean McDermott wants to take a year off and he's unlikely to return to coordinator status when he does.

The other external options aren't ideal, especially since they'd bring with them a brand-new scheme that doesn't fit the players the Panthers already have.

They'd have to promote from within, and it just wouldn't work out like fans want. It would, by and large, be the same system they bemoan, and it would be run by a less competent coordinator. The third-round picks would've been nice, but keeping Evero is probably for the best right now.

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