Mailbag: They added one big name, but do the Carolina Panthers need another safety?
The Carolina Panthers completed the bulk of their work in free agency last week with an onslaught of re-signings, defensive additions and more.
So, naturally, Panthers fans are wondering: What’s next? Well, that’s why The Observer has brought back the Panthers mailbag to answer some fan questions.
Below are four standout questions from social media and the Access Panthers newsletter:
Second wave free-agent options for Panthers
Nathaniel asks (via X, formerly known as Twitter): Do you have a few names to look out for?
MK: Fans should still keep an eye on the safety market. Because the Panthers essentially had a clean slate at the position to begin free agency — outside of second-year defensive back Demani Richardson — there are a lot of holes to fill in that room.
The team brought in free-agency crown jewel (at least for their group) Tre’von Moehrig on Day 1 of negotiations, and he is expected to be the enforcer in that group. However, since he makes more of an impact near the line of scrimmage and in the box, it wouldn’t be particularly surprising to see the Panthers target a free safety-like defensive back to complement him.
Luckily for the Panthers, the free-agent market is somewhat littered with options for that archetype a week into free agency. Justin Simmons, Rayshawn Jenkins, Julian Blackmon, John Johnson and Elijah Riley all kind of fit that mold. It just depends what the Panthers are willing to pay at this stage, especially when it seems evident that the team will address the position in the draft, perhaps even relatively early in the process.
The wide receiver market was underwhelming from the jump, and now it’s basically like a wasteland of older playmakers. Elijah Moore is still only 25 and has some speed to add to the fold. He might make sense as a gadget weapon that can take some plays off Xavier Legette’s plate. Moore is really the only major upside option at the position right now.
Otherwise, you’re counting on guys like Amari Cooper, Robert Woods, Stefon Diggs and/or Keenan Allen to provide one-year stop gaps. I’m not sure the Panthers should be fishing in those waters with Adam Thielen, who turns 35 in August, already serving in a primary role.
Of the older wideouts still available, Brandin Cooks, 31, is probably the best fit for what the Panthers need: a deep-threat with possession receiver reliability.
Open-ended situation at specialist spots
Rob C. asks (via the Access Panthers newsletter): What’s the plan for punter and place kicker? Our signed specialists at those positions are (middling) at best. Do we use some of our late-round picks for those positions? We learned a hard lesson with Harrison Butker. I am perfectly fine using late draft picks for kickers as long as we don’t try to stash them on the practice squad and they get plucked away.
Well, Sam Martin is the punter.
He signed a guaranteed $1.6 million deal, so it’s hard to see the Panthers moving away from him, or even challenging him, barring a terrible OTA performance or a disastrous summer.
Martin will replace Johnny Hekker, a fellow 35-year-old specialist, at the position and serve as a veteran holder for either Matthew Wright or a rookie kicker.
This beat writer would be genuinely surprised to see Eddy Piñeiro return. He’s been on the market for a week, and while his price is probably dropping, it seems like the Panthers’ brass wants to find and develop a young, cost-effective option at the kicker spot. Thus, they re-signed JJ Jansen and signed Martin to give the new kicker an experienced duo to work with.
The Panthers will have options at kicker in the draft. While I’m not sold on the idea of them spending a draft pick on a kicker, mainly because they don’t have a sixth-round pick and have just one seventh-round pick, they could sign one or two undrafted rookies to compete with Wright..
The names to keep in mind at kicker in the draft are Arizona’s Tyler Loop, Miami’s Andres Borregales, Southern California’s Eddie Czaplicki (Charlotte native, by the way), and Pittsburgh’s Ben Sauls.
Free agency’s pathway to the draft
Joel M. asks (via Bluesky): Free agency sets Carolina up to take a pass rushing edge defender in the first round, but how will Carolina seek to address the WR position?
A word of caution: Don’t let the first wave of free agency influence your entire thought process on the Panthers’ mode of attack in the first round of the 2025 NFL Draft. While the Panthers are set up to address outside linebacker with their top pick, don’t be surprised if they zig when everyone is expecting them to zag.
It simply depends on their board and who is available at No. 8. The Panthers also seem like one of the logical trade-back teams in the top 10 selections. So, again, don’t jump to conclusions.
Wide receiver and edge rusher are two positions that seem to be kind of all over the place in mock drafts. The lack of clarity isn’t because of talent projections but more so about the needs of all the teams in the top-15 picks or so. Arizona’s Tetairoa McMillan is the considered the grand prize of draft enthusiasts at wide receiver, but Texas wideout Matthew Golden seems to be gaining steam with national pundits since February’s NFL Scouting Combine. Both are dynamic in very different ways, so they’ll go to teams that covet their specific skill sets.
McMillan is a polished jump-ball maven with long limbs and a massive career highlight reel, while Golden is the latest speedster to come out of Texas. The Panthers really, really need speed and yard-after-catch production, so it wouldn’t be wise to rule out Golden, even if you’re a big McMillan fan. Though, McMillan could be off the board by No. 8, and Golden could drop into the teens as a trade-back option.
As of now, the veteran wide receiver trade well is drying up. Trading a high quality draft pick for an extremely expensive contract would be a notable double dip of resources for the team anyway.
The Bengals were able to keep Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins together with new deals this week. And after Jonathon Brooks’ ACL issues last year, it’s hard to see Carolina angling for a bite of the Brandon Aiyuk apple at this point, especially as he recovers from a similar injury.
The draft should be the spot to fixate on at this point, even if the Panthers’ recent returns from drafting wideouts is on par with Marvel’s latest cluster of lackluster movies. Hopefully, for the Panthers’ sake, DJ Moore didn’t serve as their Avengers: Endgame-like peak at developing the position.
No more excuses?
Alex G. asks (via Bluesky): What does the defense need to do this year for us to retain Ejiro Evero? Last season he was clearly put in a bad position, but it seems like there’s less excuses now.
Well, for one, stop the run.
The Panthers weren’t playing with a full deck of cards on defense last year, and Derrick Brown’s season-ending injury proved to be a complete disaster for the run defense.
In free agency, Carolina has brought in a notable nose tackle, Bobby Brown III, to clog up holes. They’ve signed one of the best run-stopping safeties in the league in Moehrig. They’ve also upgraded their front seven rotation with the likes of Patrick Jones II, Tershawn Wharton and Christian Rozeboom.
So, with Derrick Brown also coming back, it feels like they made progress — low bar — in turning around the league’s worst rushing defense.
Evero’s group was also the worst scoring defense last season. The coverage units need to improve, especially at safety, and it’s fair to expect the team to add more to that unit in the coming weeks and months.
The Panthers gave up 31.4 points per game last year. That allowance needs to be cut by like eight-to-10 points in 2025 for the Panthers to compete regularly on Sundays. But if the Panthers continue to improve their win total, like they did last year, Evero will be fine. They just need to have an overarching bounce back with the infusion of new talent.
The sense here is Evero isn’t particularly on edge with his position. The seat might be warm(ish), but he is extremely well-respected internally. Everyone in the building knows he was calling plays without optimal talent last year.
Now, with all this money invested in his side of the ball — with more to come in the draft — the reasonable excuses will vanish. The defense has to deliver.
This story was originally published March 19, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
