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Dan Morgan and Dave Canales' offseason spending spree proved their value in Panthers first win of 2024

Matt Alquiza

Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images
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A five year, $100 million contract for guard Robert Hunt.

A four year, $53 million contract for guard Damien Lewis.

A two year, $20 million contract for Jadeveon Clowney.

A trade up into the first round to select wide receiver Xavier Legette.

A trade of veteran defensive back Donte Jackson and a late-round pick for wide receiver Diontae Johnson.

Nearly every decision that Dan Morgan and Dave Canales made this summer to overhaul a 2-15 roster looked like the right one in Sunday’s blowout victory over the Las Vegas Raiders. The league's most shocking result of week three was sweet for many reasons, but it meant a little more to Morgan and Canales.

Sunday marked the first victory in Canales’ head coaching career. A horrific start to the season for the offense that he was hired to fix had folks (like Rex Ryan on ESPN just this morning) questioning if Canales could cut it as an NFL head coach. Doubters were silenced as dumbfounded onlookers watched Andy Dalton drop dimes all across the desert in the best quarterbacking performance of the early 2024 NFL season. Canales’ famously jovial demeanor was matched by Andy Dalton’s million dollar smile that flashed as he ran off the field as a winning quarterback for the first time since 2022.

Canales had himself a day, but Dan Morgan had to be equally as giddy as he watched the team whose jersey he once donned pick up their first win of the season. In Morgan’s inaugural press conference as the Panthers general manager he put out an APB for dawgs in the Queen City. The Carolina Panthers franchise that means the world to him suffered from a lack of intensity, and it was up to him to change the culture. Enter Canales and a slew of free agents and draft picks that made the roster unrecognizable from the previous outfit that disappointed in 2023.

He went to work in the offseason to turn Mint Street into a dog pound, and his adopted canines were finally given the chance to bark with Andy Dalton under center. Robert Hunt, Morgan’s biggest (literally, and contractually) offseason acquisition delivered a punishing pancake block on a back-breaking Chuba Hubbard run that stamped an exclamation point on a road-grating effort by his offensive line. Diontae Johnson, Carolina's new go-to wide receiver, accrued a new career high in receiving yards, giving punch to an offense that sorely lacked playmakers in 2023.

Hunt, Johnson, and the rest of the Panthers newcomers all played a major role in today’s surprising win. Their performances vindicated Morgan’s relentless offseason spending spree, and allowed both him and his head coach of choice to breathe easy following a tumultuous week for their franchise. The benching of assumed franchise cornerstone Bryce Young turned Canales, Morgan, and owner David Tepper into punching bags for NFL pundits across the country. The only way to soften those blows is to perform on the field, and their guys did exactly that.

Canales and Morgan notched the first win of their reign as the kings of the Queen City, and if early returns (that include competent quarterback play) are indicative of what's to come, it is without a doubt the first win of many for the pair.

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Matt Alquiza
MATT ALQUIZA

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