Panthers week 17 blowout loss should crystallize 2025 offseason plans

It's time for Carolina to rebuild their defense.

Matt Alquiza | Dec 29, 2024

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Carolina Panthers

The Carolina Panthers as currently constructed have a laundry list of issues. Every single one of those issues were exposed by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in their Sunday stroll over Carolina's corpse. The Panthers entered today's contest battered and bruised. They left it knocked out cold.

A 48-14 loss doesn't come without a full examination of the franchise's present and future. In the mean time, things are unlikely to get better against the Atlanta Falcons in week 18. Carolina's defensive woes continue to multiply as the injuries mount, leaving coordinator Ejiro Evero with an empty cupboard of resources to pull from when trying to slow down the NFC South's biggest bullies.

However, when it comes to future planning, today's loss in Tampa Bay has made it clear: Dan Morgan needs to go shopping for some impact defenders this offseason.

The NFL Stock Exchange, a popular league-wide podcast that focuses on the draft and free agency, recently released an episode with plans to fix the Panthers. In their exercise, they detailed a plan that saw Carolina open up between $40-45 million in cap space to spend this offseason. There are a number of impact free agents slated to be available that could transform Carolina's defense like Robert Hunt and Damien Lewis, two marquee 2024 free agent acquisitions, did for the offense.

Pass rushers Josh Sweat and Haason Reddick, corners DJ Reed and Charvarious Ward, and safeties Talanoa Hufanga and Camryn Byrum are all set to hit the open market. Signing any combination of those players plus selecting an impact defender or two in the early rounds of the 2025 NFL Draft would totally transform the Panthers defensive identity.

A spending spree to supplement the healthy returns of Jaycee Horn and Derrick Brown is absolutely on the menu for Morgan, Dave Canales, Brandt Tillis, and company. With Bryce Young showing high-end quarterback potential while still on his rookie deal, it's time for the Panthers front office to be aggressive. The Carolina Panthers are 4-12 with the league's worse defense. Recent competitive contests against the Super Bowl hopeful Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs make it clear that Carolina isn't far from relevancy.

2024 was a year to change the culture and lay the framework of building a contender in Charlotte.

2025 is the year to go for it.