Carolina Panthers Might Regret Letting Christian Rozeboom Sign with Buccaneers

The Carolina Panthers already let one impactful defender sign with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers this offseason after releasing A'Shawn Robinson, a move they may end up rueing when it's all said and done. He can now wreak havoc on Carolina twice.

Now, so can Christian Rozeboom. He has joined Robinson down south and stays in the NFC South, so Carolina will get to see him twice following his 122-tackle season for the Panthers. He replaces Lavonte David in Tampa.

The Panthers may come to regret this, although it's absolutely worth noting that Rozeboom was extremely underwhelming in Carolina. 122 tackles don't remotely tell the full story.

The #Bucs are signing former #Panthers and #Rams LB Christian Rozeboom, per agents Chris Gittings and Jeremiah Sirles, as he stays in the division. He had 122 tackles last year. pic.twitter.com/6qaHbxWwDa
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 23, 2026

He was probably overmatched as the starting linebacker, which is why the Panthers switched Trevin Wallace to the green dot. Rozeboom was meant to be a special teams ace/depth linebacker until Josey Jewell's concussion issues.

He made 122 tackles, but he missed a whole lot more. He made more negative plays than positive ones, and he struggled in coverage. He couldn't cover anyone across the middle, hence the Devin Lloyd signing by Carolina.

But with all that said, his struggles do mostly come down to being out of his depth. In Tampa, he might be better suited to his role, and he won't have to carry the middle of a weak defense. He'll have a little more help with Alex Anzalone.

That could've been his situation here with Lloyd. Rozeboom could've been a depth piece behind Lloyd and Wallace. He could've been a valuable special teams ace, which was the initial plan. Instead, he'll get two chances to exact revenge.

Carolina Panthers linebacker Christian Rozeboom (56) celebrates intercepting the ball against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers | Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images

The Panthers also were fairly fond of Rozeboom, seemingly understanding the unfair hand he was dealt, and many speculated he was an FA they might've wanted to sign back, but it never materialized.

Revenge games almost always inspire players. When it's a defender whose performance can be improved by greater effort, giving him two revenge games in an extremely tight division is a big risk.

Rozeboom isn't a massive needle-mover for Tampa, but he could've been useful in Carolina. The Panthers, as we all remember, had special teamers, fourth-stringers, and practice squad linebackers playing in the last few weeks of the season.

It went poorly. While the Panthers do have Lloyd, they now have Lloyd, Trevin Wallace, and some of those special teamers. There's still no depth, so one injury (and Wallace has been injury-prone) and Carolina's right back where it was last year.

Signing someone would've helped, and Rozeboom is familiar with the system. It puts the onus on the draft to find a good linebacker, and it is a deep class. Still, that's another risk with letting a known commodity walk.