The One Weak Spot In the Carolina Panthers' Brilliant Offseason

Despite a great offseason, Carolina overlooked one position

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The Carolina Panthers addressed many needs this offseason, and were among the top spenders in the NFL throughout free agency. Carolina was the fifth-highest spender in the NFL this offseason, spending just over $200 million.

The biggest contract was Jaelan Phillips', signing a four-year $120 million deal with the Panthers to become the premier pass rusher. Phillips was desperately needed because the Panthers were by far the worst pass-rush team in the NFL in 2025.

Other signings paved the way to a largely successful offseason. Free-agent acquisitions like ILB Devin Lloyd and LT Rasheed Walker, and then draft picks like LT Monroe Freeling, DT Lee Hunter, and WR Chris Brazzell II. All these additions will be crucial to the Panthers' run at a second straight NFC South title, but there's still one piece that Carolina missed this offseason.

Panthers One Move Away From Receiving an A grade For the Offseason

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NFL.com's Matt Okada released his offseason grades for every team in the NFC. The Panthers received the highest grade among NFC South teams, with a B+. A positive grade that's more than fair; it actually feels like the perfect grade, and there's one piece that's keeping Carolina from an A.

Despite Okada's overall positive grade for Carolina's offseason, there's one thing he wished the Panthers had done: add a tight end who can actually be a consistent target. One name that Okada mentioned was one that most Panthers media and fans were clamoring for, and thats David Njoku.

The former Browns tight end was constantly named as a perfect fit for Carolina while he was a free agent. Njoku ended up signing with the Los Angeles Chargers, though, leaving Carolina with limited options for free-agent tight ends, even though they probably weren't going to sign one at all for whatever reason.

Carolina's Lack of Urgency for Another Tight End

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The subject hasn't been brought up in months now, since before the NFL Draft. When the opportunity to add another tight end in the draft was a real possibility, Panthers GM Dan Morgan would be asked about it, and didn't show any urgency to add more talent to that room.

Roughly a week before the NFL Draft, Morgan was asked about adding more to the tight end room. His response was, "I feel good about our tight end room. There's a lot of guys in that room that are still developing... They bring a skill set that we really like."

Maybe Morgan sees higher potential in guys like J'Tavion Sanders and Mitchell Evans than what's been shown on the field. As of right now, though, Carolina doesn't have a true go-to tight end who can be a bail-out target on third downs and in the red zone.