Carolina Panthers add to defensive line with Haason Reddick, Morgan Fox
The Carolina Panthers bolstered their defense in a big way on the first day of the league year.
The Panthers have agreed to terms with former Arizona Cardinals outside linebacker Haason Reddick on a one-year deal, per a league source, worth $6 million guaranteed, with a max of $8 million, and with former Los Angeles Rams defensive lineman Morgan Fox on a two-year, $8.1 million deal with $7 million guaranteed, per league sources.
Both moves came after agreeing to terms with middle linebacker Denzel Perryman on a two-year deal earlier in the day.
After spending big in free agency on the offensive side of the ball last year, the Panthers are adding veteran players to work alongside the historic seven defensive rookies drafted last year. After general manager Scott Fitterer spent almost two decades with the Seattle Seahawks in the NFC West, it’s not a surprise to see him sign two players from the division. Both are also versatile players, which has been mentioned as a priority for the Panthers.
Reddick, 26, played for Panthers head coach Matt Rhule and defensive coordinator Phil Snow during their time at Temple. The linebacker has spent the past four years in Arizona after being selected 13th overall in the 2017 NFL draft.
Coming off of his best career season by far, Reddick had 12.5 sacks in 2020, tied for fourth-most, and six forced fumbles. He has also had three straight seasons of 60-plus tackles and has played all 16 games of a season in every year of his career. However, he has not had success getting to the quarterback throughout his career. During his first three seasons with the Cardinals, Reddick only combined for 7.5 sacks.
The Panthers were missing a dominant presence to play opposite edge rusher Brian Burns, and Reddick provides the team with that. Yes, there are hypothetical trade scenarios when it comes to Burns and a certain quarterback in Texas, but Last year, Burns led the team with nine sacks, and the next closest player was free agent Efe Obada with 5.5. The team chose not to tender Obada and Fox will likely be taking on a similar role.
Fox, 26, will also give the Panthers extra pressure up front as a rotational player. With the Rams since he was signed in 2016, after going undrafted out of Colorado State-Pueblo, Fox has seen increased playing time throughout his career. His only time off due to injury came when he missed the entire 2018 season because of a torn ACL.
Fox’s best season by far came in 2020, finishing with six sacks, 27 tackles and nine quarterback hits playing next to the Defensive Player of the Year Aaron Donald.
The pair combined for 18.5 sacks last year, which was more than half of the sacks the entire Panthers team produced in 2020 (29).
Snow runs a mix of different fronts from a 4-3 base, often changing up scheme and personnel. Reddick was more of a traditional 3-4 rusher during his time with the Cardinals but will have the opportunity to be used in more ways than one in the Panthers’ defense. Fox will be a rotational player, like Obada and as he was in Los Angeles, and can rush from all over the field.
Reddick played for Rhule and his staff at Temple from 2012-16. He was originally a walk-on and considered leaving the program, per a VICE story, but rejoined when Rhule was hired as head coach in December 2012. He emerged in his junior season in 2015, becoming a star defensive end and one of the best players in the conference, which led him to being picked in the first-round of the draft.
The Panthers now have eight players on their roster that played at Temple.
Prior to Reddick being drafted in 2017, Rhule spoke to Sports Illustrated about how much it meant to him to see Reddick continue to improve.
“I’m unbelievably proud of (Reddick), and the fact that he invited me (to the NFL draft) was one of the things I’ve cherished most along the way,” Rhule told SI. “I’m really proud of him because no one gave him anything. Even the past year going into this process, he’s a down-the-line guy, and all he’s done is work and work and work. Once he started to have a ton of success, he didn’t change. He kept running down on the kickoff team even when he knew he was going to get drafted really high because he wanted to win. He’s every bit the example of our program and what we want it to be like.”
Will Reddick be with the Panthers past the one-year deal? That remains to be seen, but adding defensive help for 2021 in free agency will allow Carolina to focus on the offensive side of the ball in this year’s draft and will assist the development of younger players like edge rusher Yetur Gross-Matos.
After addressing defensive line and linebacker, the next area for Fitterer to look to is adding a much-needed cornerback to the roster.
This story was originally published March 17, 2021 at 6:17 PM.
