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CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Summer’s over, at least for NFL players, coaches and reporters.
That means no more hilarious Xavier Legette lake videos. No more waiting on second-round picks to sign or finding ways to pass the time between the end of minicamps in June and the start of training camps in late July.
The Carolina Panthers’ full squad will report Tuesday, and the team’s first practice is set for Wednesday. For the second year in a row, the Panthers will hold training camp in Charlotte, but fans will be unable to attend this summer (except for FanFest on Aug. 2) due to ongoing construction projects at the practice facilities adjacent to Bank of America Stadium.
It was a relatively stable offseason for owner David Tepper and his organization compared to recent years. But the Panthers begin drills facing a number of questions. Chief among them: Is this the year the Panthers end a seven-season playoff drought that coincided with Tepper’s ownership of the team?
It will take some time for that one to be answered. Meanwhile, The Athletic ranks the 10 biggest storylines that will drive Panthers-related discussions leading to the Sept. 7 regular-season opener at Jacksonville.
10. Who will emerge as the returners?
Raheem Blackshear has handled kick returns every year since joining the Panthers in 2022, and last year was the primary kick and punt returner. But the additions of fourth-round running back Trevor Etienne and sixth-round receiver Jimmy Horn pushed Blackshear down the depth chart and likely put his chances of making the roster in jeopardy.
Etienne, the younger brother of Jaguars running back Travis Etienne, averaged nearly 25 yards in two seasons as Florida’s kick returner (before transferring to Georgia). Horn has game-changing speed and return experience from his two years at Colorado.
9. Will Dan Morgan look outside for secondary help?
Speculation that the Panthers could add a veteran defensive back has persisted since they hosted free-agent safeties Julian Blackmon and Marcus Williams on visits in March. Justin Simmons, a safety who was with Panthers defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero in Denver, is also available. But I sense that Morgan, Evero and Dave Canales like the makeup of the current secondary group and aren’t planning to bring in reinforcements. Obviously, that could change due to injury or a bad showing during joint practices against the Cleveland Browns and Houston Texans. But the Panthers made big investments in Jaycee Horn and Tre’von Moehrig and want to see which younger defensive backs step up around them.
8. What’s the situation at tight end?
Depending on Tommy Tremble’s status, the Panthers could be in the market for a tight end to pair with Ja’Tavion Sanders and rookie Mitchell Evans. Tremble had back surgery in May, two months after re-signing on a two-year, $10.5 million deal. It’s tough to envision him being ready for the start of camp. One name to monitor is Noah Fant, who was released Sunday by Seattle. The 27-year-old Fant was with Canales and Panthers TE coach Pat McPherson in Seattle.
Sanders’ 33 receptions as a rookie last year were the most by a Panthers tight end since Greg Olsen pulled in 52 passes in 2019 during his final season in Charlotte. Sanders was on pace for a 44-catch season before being flipped on his head against Kansas City in Week 12. The fourth-rounder from Texas lost 10 pounds during the offseason and looked faster during OTAs.
7. Will an Ikem Ekwonu extension get done before the season?
Since Morgan was promoted and Canales and vice president of football operations Brandt Tilis arrived in January 2024, the Panthers have made a point to lock up their deserving, homegrown players. The list features Derrick Brown, Chuba Hubbard and Horn, and may soon include Ekwonu, the first-round pick from 2022 who has said he wants to be here for the team’s turnaround. The two sides failed to get a deal done during the offseason, but Morgan has expressed a desire to keep the Charlotte native in process blue for the long term.
Last spring, Canales called Ekwonu “a dominant run blocker” who needed to clean up his hand placement and footwork to improve as a pass blocker. The Panthers picked up Ekwonu’s fifth-year option (worth $17.6 million) for 2026. An extension with an average annual value of $21 million would put the former N.C. State mauler among the top seven, highest-paid players at his position. That seems like a logical starting point.
6. Who wins the kicking competition?
The Panthers will have a new kicker after moving on from Eddy Pineiro, who’s third all-time among NFL kickers in field goal accuracy but never had the strongest leg. That doesn’t seem to be an issue for undrafted free-agent Ryan Fitzgerald, whose 59-yarder last August against Georgia Tech was the second-longest kick in Florida State history. After struggling during a rainy and windy OTA practice, Fitzgerald was 9-of-10 on skinny goal posts over the Panthers’ next two practices with reporters present. He would appear to have the edge over journeyman Matthew Wright, who’s bounced around to six teams over five years (including a one-game stint with Carolina at the end of 2023).
The Panthers are hoping second-round pick Nic Scourton gives them a pass-rushing lift. (Kirby Lee / Imagn Images)
5. Will there be enough pass rush?
The Panthers’ 32 sacks in 2024 tied for the third fewest in the league. A’Shawn Robinson and Jadeveon Clowney paced the Panthers with 5 1/2 sacks apiece, the lowest total for the team leader since Na’il Diggs and Damione Lewis finished with 3 1/2 in 2007. Those anemic ’24 numbers prompted the Panthers to replace outside linebackers coach Tem Lukabu with A.C. Carter and move on from Clowney in favor of a youth movement at edge.
After signing Pat Jones following a seven-sack season in Minnesota, the Panthers took two SEC edge rushers on the second night of the draft — Nic Scourton and Princely Umanmielen. The Panthers need consistent pressure from Robinson and D.J. Wonnum, who had four sacks in eight games last year. Amare Barno, another returning edge rusher, likely will start camp on the physically unable to perform list following a knee cleanup.
4. About the defense: Is it going to be better?
It would be hard to be much worse. A big reason for the paltry pass rush was the fact that the Panthers were repeatedly gashed in the run game, leading to few third-and-long situations in which the pass rushers could eat. Morgan tried to attack the problems in free agency. A year after rebuilding the offensive line, the former Panthers linebacker-turned-GM missed out on his biggest target (Milton Williams) but added free-agent pieces to all three levels of the defense. In addition to the edge rushers, the Panthers also took Ohio State safety Lathan Ransom and Florida defensive lineman Cam Jackson on the third day of the draft. But the key to the Evero-coordinated D could be the health of Derrick Brown, whom we’ll address momentarily.
3. Is Tetairoa McMillan the missing piece for Bryce Young and the offense?
The Panthers brought back their entire offensive line, which did a nice job protecting Young and opening holes for Hubbard last fall. Rico Dowdle should provide a nice change of pace in the run game. But Canales’ offense last year lacked a big-time playmaker in the passing game, which the Panthers hoped they were getting in Legette. In fact, McMillan’s arrival should allow Legette to relax and settle in after a rookie season plagued by dropped passes. And McMillan’s size, catch radius and familiarity with Young should be a boon for the third-year quarterback, who threw with McMillan during the offseason and lobbied for him with the Panthers’ decision-makers.
Derrick Brown was missed in the interior of Carolina’s defensive line last season. (Jim Dedmon / Imagn Images)
2. Is Brown ready to return to fill a huge void on the defense?
The defense’s undoing started early last year when Brown tore his meniscus in Week 1 and was lost for the season. When Shaq Thompson went down with an Achilles injury three weeks later, the Panthers were without two of their best players and leaders on defense. Thompson is gone — the latest ex-Panther to join Sean McDermott and Brandon Beane in Buffalo. And while Brown’s rehab has gone well, expect the Panthers to bring him along slowly in training camp so he’s ready for the start of the season. That’s a sound strategy given Brown’s importance to the defense. The 2020 first-round pick from Auburn had a monster season in 2023, finishing with more tackles (103) than any defensive lineman in NFL history and going to his first Pro Bowl.
1. Is Young poised to take the next step and put the Panthers in contention for a playoff spot?
Young looked like a completely different quarterback at the end of last season than the one whose inconsistency and lack of confidence led to his benching after only two games. This version more closely resembled “Bama Bryce” and was encouraging enough that the Panthers decided to use a top-10 pick on a receiver rather than give Evero some help on defense.
Young turned in his best three-game stretch to close 2024, with 10 touchdowns (seven passing, three rushing) and no turnovers against Arizona, Tampa Bay and Atlanta. His five-TD game in the overtime win against the Falcons prompted Canales to pronounce the Panthers had “our guy.” Young needs to play that way from the jump this year if the Panthers hope to end the league’s second-longest playoff drought.
(Top photo of Young: Mitchell Leff / Getty Images)
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