Former Packers’ First-Round Pick Would Upgrade Panthers’ Defense

The Carolina Panthers reached the playoffs this past season for the first time since 2017. The club could certainly benefit from another playmaker on defense.

Green Bay Packers linebacker Quay Walker (7) and defensive end Kingsley Enagbare (55) tackle Baltimore Ravens running back Derrick Henry (22) on Saturday, December 27, 2025, at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wis. The Ravens defeated the Packers 41-24. Wm. Glasheen USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin | Wm. Glasheen/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Carolina Panthers certainly made strides in Dave Canales’s second season as head coach. In 2024, he inherited a club that had won only two games the previous year, and thanks to a second-half surge the Panthers improved to 5-12. This past season, the team won the NFC South with an 8-9 record, once again improving three games in the win column.

Reigning NFC South champions have some definitive needs

General manager Dan Morgan has several areas to address if the franchise is to continue its revival, and post its first winning season since 2017. There is a huge need at edge rusher, a question mark at left tackle (Ikem Ekwonu) due to injury, while more consistent play is needed at linebacker.

The latter could be addressed in free agency with the addition of the 22nd overall pick in the 2022 NFL draft. That year, the Green Bay Packers had a pair of first-round selections. Last May, the team picked up the fifth-year option on defensive lineman Devonte Wyatt, but did not do the same for linebacker Quay Walker.

Jan 10, 2026; Chicago, IL, USA; Chicago Bears tight end Colston Loveland (84) catches a pass in front of Green Bay Packers linebacker Quay Walker (7) during an NFC Wild Card Round game at Soldier Field. Mandatory Credit: Wm. Glasheen/USA TODAY Network via Imagn Images | Wm. Glasheen/USA TODAY Network via Imagn Images

Late last week, Jacob Cameker of USA Today chose the “perfect free agent option” for each of the 32 NFL seasons. The former University of Utah product was the pick for Canales’s club.

LB Quay Walker has been a tackling machine

The Panthers could mimic their approach to 2025 free agency,” explained Cameker, “during which they addressed a position of need, defensive line, by signing a few young, high-upside players to mid-tier contracts–at linebacker in 2026. Walker would fit that model, as he has generated at least 102 tackles across his four NFL seasons to date…”

Jan 3, 2026; Tampa, Florida, USA; Carolina Panthers linebacker Christian Rozeboom (56) celebrates intercepting the ball against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the first half at Raymond James Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images | Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images

Last offseason, Morgan inked former Rams’ tackle machine Christian Rozeboom to a one-year deal, and he proceeded to lead the Panthers with 122 tackles. The former undrafted free agent turned 29 years old in January, while Walker will celebrate his 26th birthday on May 8.

If you look at both players’ 2025 grades from Pro Football Focus, Rozeboom (48.4) is ranked slightly higher than Walker (46.0) in terms of overall grades. What you get from the latter is a younger performer and a little more pass rush and range.

The 6’4”, 241-pound performer has totaled a combined nine sacks in four seasons, and has registered 29 tackles for losses over that span. Rozeboom has 14 TFLs and three QB traps the past three seasons since making his first start in 2023. Walker has led the Packers in tackles in each of his four seasons, totaling a career-high 128 stops in only 14 contests in 2025.

The Panthers’ run defense was much-improved a year ago from 2024, but faded a bit down the stretch. All told, could the younger Walker wind up being a better fit in Ejiro Evero’s defense than Rozeboom? That question could actually be answered very soon.