Panthers To Sign Ex-Saints & Seahawks Linemen in Half-Hearted Effort to Fix Holes

The Carolina Panthers had two major, glaring holes on the offensive line heading into free agency. With Cade Mays officially leaving for the Detroit Lions, the needs got even bigger. They officially only had 60% of a starting offensive line for 2026.

Obviously, Bryce Young needs an offensive line to succeed. That's what the Panthers learned heading into 2024, and if they don't fix the issues, their offense could regress after a year of growth.

Fortunately, the Panthers have taken a stab at fixing the offensive line in free agency. Unfortunately, it barely qualifies as a stab, signing two extremely low-level free agents that don't much move the needle.

Panthers add Luke Fortner, Stone Forsythe to ailing offensive line

Las Vegas Raiders offensive tackle Stone Forsythe (70) reacts during the game | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Cade Mays is a Detroit Lion (or will be after Wednesday). Ikem Ekwonu is out for 2026. Austin Corbett and Brady Christensen remain free agents. That doesn't leave the Panthers' line in good shape at all.

However, as of a couple of hours ago, the Panthers agreed to terms with a center. Luke Fortner is here on a one-year deal. He was linked to the Panthers beforehand given their center need, and now he's set to sign with the Panthers.

The #Panthers agreed to terms with C Luke Fortner on a 1-year deal, per a league source.

Fortner has spilt his career between JAX and NO.

Same Jaguars draft class as Devin Lloyd.
— Mike Kaye (@mike_e_kaye) March 10, 2026

Fortner is a fine addition, but he's not a major needle-mover. He won't be nearly as good as Cade Mays was, and to be totally truthful, it would be a surprise if the Panthers didn't draft a center to compete with him.

The more pressing issue, though, is left tackle. Those are hard to come by, and they're expensive, moreso than centers. Finding an Ikem Ekwonu replacement was always going to be hard. Even with the recent addition of Stone Forsythe, the Panthers haven't replaced him.

Totally missed @JFowlerESPN great scoop from earlier.

A league source confirmed that former Seahawks OT Stone Forsythe has agreed to terms with the #Panthers.
— Mike Kaye (@mike_e_kaye) March 11, 2026

This is most likely a depth signing if anything. It would be surprising and disappointing if Forsythe was the starting left tackle this year. He's not really been a starter in the NFL.

It's good that the Panthers are adding depth to their offensive line, but with such major holes at those two spots, it's hard to feel too terribly inspired by these day-two additions. There is now a player on the roster at both spots, but they're not exactly great players like Mays or Ekwonu.

Fortunately, the draft remains, but it's looking more and more likely that the Panthers are going to have to draft a center and a left tackle pretty early on, thereby taking them out of the market for some other key additions they could've made.