Panthers’ free agency updates: Secondary changes continue with veteran DB headed elsewhere
The Carolina Panthers put a heavy emphasis on defense on Monday during the first wave of the NFL’s legal tampering period.
The team reached contract agreements with safety Tre’von Moehrig, linebacker Patrick Jones II, and defensive tackles Tershawn Wharton and Bobby Brown III. They also re-signed their incumbent starting cornerbacks, Mike Jackson and Jaycee Horn, to contract extensions ahead of free agency.
General manager Dan Morgan added new contributors to each level of the defense, while also securing the cornerback spot. The unit, led by third-year defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero, is looking to improve after being the NFL’s worst scoring defense in 2024.
But, as with most 5-12 teams, there is still work to be done. Tuesday is a new day, and thus, The Observer has a fresh live tracker to catch you up on all the action.
Below you’ll find roster news, general league updates and more from Tuesday’s negotiations.
Check back here for updates on the Panthers’ roster movement (and avoid the clutter on social media), as well as sign up for the FREE Access Panthers newsletter for potential blockbuster move updates sent to your email.
Veteran starter Xavier Woods leaving Carolina for Nashville
The Panthers’ secondary will look different in 2025.
One day after the team reached a long-term agreement with Tre’von Moehrig to start at safety, veteran defensive back Xavier Woods has decided to head elsewhere.
According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, Woods has agreed to a two-year, $10 million deal with the Tennessee Titans.
Woods, who played 100% of the defensive snaps for the Panthers last year, will get a fresh start after spending three years in Carolina. Woods led the team with three interceptions last season and had five total picks during his time in process blue.
Woods was part of a safety unit that struggled mightily against the run last year. Moehrig, in part, was brought in to alleviate that run-stopping deficiency.
The Panthers had five safeties set to test free agency this offseason. Woods and Lonnie Johnson, who agreed to terms with the Raiders on Monday, are already gone. Jordan Fuller, Nick Scott and Sam Franklin are expected to hit the open market on Wednesday.
The Titans are Woods’ fourth NFL team. He previous played for the Dallas Cowboys and Minnesota Vikings before joining the Panthers in 2022.
Carolina Panthers re-sign key reserve offensive lineman in Brady Christensen
The Panthers re-signed reserve offensive lineman Brady Christensen on Tuesday afternoon — shoring up an offensive line that made huge strides in 2024.
Christensen has agreed to a one-year, $2.78 million fully guaranteed contract with Carolina, according to a league source.
This move is undeniably a bit surprising considering how 2024 ended. Christensen proved his versatility last season, stepping up admirably in center Austin Corbett’s injured stead initially and then replacing Ickey Ekwonu at the left tackle position briefly thereafter as Ekwonu battled an ankle injury.
However once Ekwonu returned to the lineup, it wasn’t Christensen who moved back to center. Instead Cade Mays, who the team acquired from the Giants’ practice squad, kept the starting center role, moving Christensen to the bench. After the season, Christensen said he wanted to stay in Carolina but also that he was excited for the possibility of free agency.
The Panthers’ offensive line situation depth chart is probably the most settled of any position group on the team (outside quarterbacks). That chart:
LT: Ickey Ekwonu, Brady Christensen
LG: Damien Lewis, Chandler Zavala (or Christensen)
C: Austin Corbett/Cade Mays (or Christensen)
RG: Robert Hunt, Chandler Zavala
RT: Taylor Moton, Yosh Nijman
Carolina Panthers land punter from Buffalo Bills as Johnny Hekker leaves for the Titans
The Panthers have reached an agreement with punter Sam Martin on a one-year deal, a league source told The Charlotte Observer. The deal is worth up to $3 million.
This news might catch the attention of Panthers fans, as it all but puts the nail in the coffin on Johnny Hekker’s future in Carolina. The generational punter — one of all three Panthers specialists who were free agents at the end of the regular season — had statistically one of the worst years of his career in 2024 but stated after the season he wanted to stay in Carolina. That idea is now dashed. (Hekker, minutes after Martin’s arrival announcement, signed with the Tennessee Titans.)
Kicker Eddy Piñeiro, too, is testing his market in free agency. Long snapper JJ Jansen re-signed with the team last month.
Martin had a good season in 2024. The 35-year-old punter averaged 46.7 yards per punt with a long of 65. The Appalachian State graduate notched 25 inside-20 punts on the year, too.
Carolina Panthers release running back Miles Sanders
The first Panthers-centric splash came just past 12:30 p.m. Tuesday when the team announced they’d released running back Miles Sanders.
Releasing the 27-year-old running back will save the Panthers roughly $5.23 million in cap space, according to Over The Cap, and will leave behind $2.95 million in dead money. This thus ends the experiment that started under the GM Scott Fitterer and head coach Frank Reich regime — when the Panthers signed the former Pro Bowler to a four-year, $25.4 million deal in 2023, one of the best running back deals brokered that offseason.
Sanders was expected to be the Panthers’ running back of the future then. A few games into 2023, however, Chuba Hubbard got the start over him, maintained that starting role in 2024 and turned that opportunity into the best year of the 2021 fourth-round draft pick’s career — which yielded a four-year, $33.2 million extension.
Sanders only played in 11 games in 2024. One of those contests was in the season-finale in Atlanta, where he got the start and recorded 116 total yards and two touchdowns, which backed up his postgame commentary: I came to prove I shouldn’t be on the sideline. There was a distinct possibility the Panthers would retain him for 2025 — perhaps on a reworked deal — considering the Panthers’ RB-of-the-future Jonathon Brooks tore his ACL late last season and likely won’t play much in 2025.
But in the end, the Panthers moved on, and now they have decisions to make at the running back position. The Panthers do not plan on placing a tender on restricted free agent RB Raheem Blackshear, as The Observer has previously reported, but one depth option the team could explore is signing Blackshear to a different deal after the new league year begins at 4 p.m. Wednesday.
Charlotte’s own QB Daniel Jones heads to Seattle
As of 11 a.m. the Carolina Panthers haven’t made any moves on Day 2 of the legal tampering period. But several players with connections to the Carolinas have — including a Charlotte native.
Quarterback Daniel Jones, who went to Charlotte Latin for high school football and later played college ball at Duke, is headed to Indianapolis, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter. He’s finalizing a one-year, $14 million deal with the Colts, and will theoretically be in a quarterback competition with Anthony Richardson later this summer.
Jones had a topsy turvy 2024. The New York Giants’ high hopes for him last year quickly faded and completely ceased after the Giants lost in overtime to the Carolina Panthers in Germany — a game in which Jones only threw for 190 yards and was intercepted twice. He was thereafter released by the team and picked up by Minnesota, where he finished the season.
Speaking of the Vikings and quarterbacks with Carolina connections: Free agent Sam Darnold, who had a breakout year in 2024, agreed to go to the Seattle Seahawks, filling in for the since-departed-to-Las-Vegas Geno Smith.
The new guys on defense: Young and hungry quartet added
The Panthers desperately needed to get better on defense in 2025. The team’s first four external contract agreements show that Carolina is at least self-aware in that regard.
Below are the four new additions from Monday:
▪ S Tre’von Moehrig: The 6-foot-2, 202-pound defensive back is a physically imposing player at his position. He’s known for his durability, toughness and run-stopping ability, and at just 25, he’s got upside to grow in coverage. On paper, Moehrig is a significant upgrade against the run, but he’s also a ball-hawk with six career interceptions.
▪ OLB Patrick Jones II: A rotational pass rusher coming off a career year, Jones is likely to have a similar role in Carolina as he did in Minnesota. The 26-year-old defender posted a career-high seven sacks last season for the Vikings, and he has upside as a pass rusher. He’s also been a key contributor on special teams during his four-year NFL career.
▪ NT Bobby Brown III: The former Los Angeles Rams defender is built like a truck at 6-4 and 332 pounds. He should be able to slide between A’Shawn Robinson and Derrick Brown as a legitimate nose tackle in the trenches. The 24-year-old lineman has a background with Evero and new outside linebackers coach A.C. Carter.
▪ DT Tershawn Wharton: The two-time Super Bowl winner, listed as 6-1 and 280 pounds, has produced 13.5 sacks over the past five seasons in Kansas City. He is likely to be part of the defensive line rotation with Robinson, Bobby Brown, Derrick Brown and others. His three-year, $45 million deal implies he will be used heavily on obvious passing downs.
A starting defensive lineman has taken a pay cut
The Panthers made a lot of moves on the defensive line Monday, and that required shelling out a lot of money. They did save some cash, however, in a deal they struck with returning nose tackle Shy Tuttle.
A league source told The Observer that Tuttle has agreed to take a pay cut. He was due a $6.5 million salary in 2025, but he’s accepted a reworked deal that will pay him $3 million in base salary instead. Tuttle has guaranteed $500,000 on that salary; he can make up an additional $3.5 million through incentives.
Panthers’ internal free agents: Mike Jackson is back, but the others are listless
While former Panthers like safety Jeremy Chinn (Raiders), cornerback Donte Jackson (Chargers) and center Bradley Bozeman (Chargers) received new deals Monday, Carolina’s incumbent unrestricted free agents were mostly listless to open the negotiating window.
However, the Panthers were able to get a two-year deal done with cornerback Mike Jackson after a busy day of negotiating elsewhere.
Defensive back and special teams ace Lonnie Johnson later confirmed he agreed to a contract with the Raiders following a report by FOX Sports.
The team still has 12 unrestricted free agents still awaiting their respective fates:
▪ WR David Moore
▪ K Eddy Piñeiro
▪ S Sam Franklin
▪ S Nick Scott
▪ TE Ian Thomas
▪ TE Feleipe Franks
▪ LB Cam Gill
▪ RB Mike Boone
▪ DE DeShawn Williams
▪ CB Caleb Farley
▪ S Jordan Fuller
▪ LB Shaq Thompson (Panthers announce they’re moving in another direction)
The team also has five pending restricted free agents, though center Cade Mays (original round) is the only one to have received a tender at this point. The Panthers have until 4 p.m. Wednesday to tender running back Raheem Blackshear and wide receivers Deven Thompkins, Dan Chisena and Velus Jones Jr.
This story was originally published March 11, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
