Panthers mailbag: How can Dan Morgan fix the Carolina pass rush in 2026?
The Carolina Panthers are in the early stages of their preparation for the 2026 offseason.
With several in-house free agents to monitor, and a couple of notable injuries to account for, Carolina will need to formulate a plan that helps them in 2026 and beyond.
Naturally, fans have questions about that pending plan, so The Charlotte Observer is bringing back the Panthers mailbag to answer those inquiries.
Here are some standout questions from various platforms:
What’s the (pass) rush?
Michael B. asks: With the comments from Dan Morgan on the dissatisfaction of the QB pressures, what is more likely to happen: Drafting a high-end edge? Signing a veteran player at edge? Signing/drafting a high pressure DT? Or simply just changing the play-calling and possibly scheme (not Ejiro Evero)?
MK: Michael, I think, is referring to comments made by Morgan during a radio interview with WFNZ last week.
“Our pass rush, obviously to me — and everybody in the building would tell you — it wasn’t up to par,” Morgan said during an appearance on Mac & Bone Show. “We had the second-lowest pressure rate in the league this year. Obviously, that’s not acceptable. And if you’re not protecting the quarterback and not effecting the quarterback, you’re not going to win many games in this league, especially at a consistent level. So, we know we’ve got to get better there, and like we do every offseason, we attack those perceived weaknesses, and we’ll make our roster stronger.”
The read here is that this situation extends beyond a one-player fix.
The outside linebacker group produced just 11.5 sacks on the season, with rookie Nic Scourton accumulating five of those QB takedowns. Really, Scourton was the only player to create consistent pressure at the position.
The Panthers will get Pat Jones back, and Princely Umanmielen will continue to develop, but this feels like a double-dip situation heading into the offseason.
Morgan and football operations executive Brandt Tilis have typically attacked needs with multiple players as opposed to one finite upgrade. For instance, they spent a ton of money on guards Robert Hunt and Damien Lewis in 2024. They brought in Tershawn Wharton and Bobby Brown on the defensive line, and Jones, Scourton and Umanmielen at outside linebacker last year.
This offseason, the expectation is that they’ll continue to attack positions of need with multiple reinforcements. Frankly, at outside linebacker, that’s not a bad idea at all.
Spending mid-tier money on an ascending pass rusher — like say, Cincinnati Bengals defensive end Joseph Ossai — before drafting another pass rusher in the first three rounds would make sense. Those two additions could join Scourton, Jones, Umanmielen and special teams ace Thomas Incoom (an impending restricted free agent) in the room.
I’m not sure Morgan and Tilis will spend much time swimming in the Odafe Oweh, Trey Hendrickson and Joey Bosa free-agency waters. Oweh feels like a player who will price out of their range similarly to Milton Williams last year. Hendrickson and Bosa are aging and probably won’t be all that impactful long term.
The Panthers also need to get more out of their interior defensive line beyond Derrick Brown, who had a career-high five sacks last season.
Wharton was primarily brought to Charlotte to be an interior pass rusher. He struggled with injuries and was overworked as an every-down player in different pockets of the season. Wharton only produced two sacks in nine games. He needs a big bounce-back year, especially as he is guaranteed $14 million in 2026.
Bobby Brown, who is mostly used as an early down run-stopper, needs to get better at pass rushing as well.
A’Shawn Robinson, perhaps the team’s most underrated defender, feels like the only other dependable lineman — besides Derrick Brown — against the pass on the roster. It wouldn’t be surprising to see the Panthers invest a draft pick or maybe a “prove it” one-year deal with a young interior pass rusher this offseason.
So, to wrap this in a bow, the expectation is the Panthers will try to get better with the pass rush with quantity — but hopefully not at the risk of poor quality.
Non-buyer’s remorse?
Daniel H. asks: Do you think the Panthers regret getting outbid for Milton Williams, and will they break the bank for a marquee free agent in a position of need? Also, are the Panthers now a more attractive free agent destination than they were one year ago?
The Panthers, based on their front-office philosophy, shouldn’t be losing sleep over missing out on Williams.
While the New England Patriots lineman has made a major impact in his first year with his new team (including a two-sack performance in a wild-card round win over the Los Angeles Chargers), he only played in 12 games during the regular season, producing 29 tackles, 3.5 sacks and eight QB hits.
Williams is making an average of $26 million per season — Derrick Brown makes $24 million on average per year, by the way — and his impact would need to be much higher than it was in 2025 to justify his overarching price tag.
That said, the Panthers pivoted to Wharton ($45 million over three years) and Bobby Brown ($21 million over three years) when Williams chose the Patriots. Neither one of those players had particularly strong seasons themselves. Yes, together they are making $22 million per season, but neither defender was effective enough in his respective role in 2025 to make the Williams deal feel like a stretch, or make them — as a pair — feel like a combo bargain.
Wharton struggled mightily against the run throughout most of the season (when he was healthy enough play), while Brown was mostly a one-note run defender.
However, instead of using them in tandem to complement each other, Wharton was given way too much work on obvious run downs, and Brown — when Wharton was sidelined injury for several games — didn’t take advantage of his passing game reps.
The Panthers failed to get both guys on the field in routinely productive situations. Robinson and Derrick Brown played well throughout the year, while Wharton and Bobby Brown just couldn’t find steady grooves, despite some flashes of brilliance.
Still, one could argue that the team got four major defensive contributors (Bobby Brown, Wharton, Christian Rozeboom and Nick Scott) for roughly the price of Williams — on an annual average — last year. Most GMs would take that, especially with that resulting in a division crown and a home playoff game.
Williams is a stud, but as mentioned in the previous answer, the Panthers’ philosophy has leaned heavily on multiple solutions over one-stop shopping.
Regarding Carolina’s appeal on the free-agent market, I think it’s fair to say the Panthers have become more appealing from 2025 to 2026. While money typically trumps everything else on the open market, the recent stability at the top of the organization and the NFC South championship are signs of progress.
There are much worse situations to land in than Carolina — quite a few, in fact.
Lost in a Mays
Gary asks: Does Cade Mays come back? Do they draft a tackle in the top two rounds?
Ickey Ekwonu’s ruptured patellar tendon probably impacts Mays more than any other player on the roster — excluding the left tackle. Now, the Panthers have to dedicate assets to two starting positions instead of one, and Mays might need to head elsewhere to get a fair long-term deal.
Kansas City Chiefs center Creed Humphrey tops the market at center with an $18 million per year average. There are eight centers that make $9 million or more in annual salary.
The mid-tier group at the position is in the $5 million to $7 million range. There are six starting centers that make an average salary in that range. Mays, after starting 20 games at center over two years for the Panthers, probably fits into that area of the market.
If Mays wants a three-year, $15 million or four-year, $20 million contract, that might be hard for the Panthers to pull off, especially with the needs they have elsewhere, particularly at left tackle, outside linebacker and safety.
Mays is a quality starting center, but there’s reason to believe the Panthers might not value him to the point that they’d be willing to sacrifice a huge portion of their budget for him.
Remember, this is the team that cut Mays for a waiver-wire pickup to start the 2024 season. They also went with Austin Corbett over Mays to start this past season. Clearly, he’s played well, but he isn’t the most proven player at the position.
So, the Panthers might look to draft a replacement to get younger and cheaper, or they could sign someone with more proven ability at the position to improve the spot in trenches. The first option is more appealing on paper, while the second option seems to fit the Panthers’ desire to rule the trenches on both sides of the ball.
It’ll be interesting to see how Mays’ market develops. Center is a position with a scarcity of talent and depth in the NFL. His eventual deal could ultimately surprise in either direction.
With the offensive tackle spot, it would make sense to sign a one-year stop-gap left tackle to fill in for Ekwonu. But even with that addition, the Panthers should look to draft a tackle relatively early to develop for the long term.
Taylor Moton is only signed through 2027, and Ekwonu is up after this coming season. So, having an in-house tackle to replace either player would be logical. The Panthers don’t have to spend a first- or second-round pick on a left tackle if they plan to add veteran insurance. If they choose to start a rookie immediately, though, a first-round selection would be wise.
This story was originally published January 20, 2026 at 5:00 AM.
