Panthers’ Canales dishes on Jaelan Phillips’ signing, Jonathon Brooks’ recovery
Dave Canales enters his third season as the Carolina Panthers’ head coach with an improved defensive depth chart.
The Panthers spent heavily in free agency to acquire two potential cornerstone pieces for the franchise in outside linebacker Jaelan Phillips and inside linebacker Devin Lloyd. And Canales felt both players fit with what the team and defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero are trying to accomplish in 2026.
He also had some help in the vetting process of Phillips, as newly hired associate head coach Darrell Bevell worked with the pass rusher in Miami prior to his trade to Philadelphia last year.
“He’s a really intelligent human,” Canales said Monday during the NFL annual meeting in Phoenix. “He’s also ginormous. All of 6-5, really lean, and you can tell this is a guy that’s conscientious about taking care of his body. And then the information we got about how he practices, and the amount effort and strain that he puts into that — it’s like those are the types of guys want to bring in.”
“We tried to gather as much info from people as we could,” Canales added. “Darrell Bevell was in Miami — he’s on our staff now — so he had a lot of input about who Jaelan was on a day-to-day basis, and what he remembered about his time with him.
Lloyd, who is coming off a Pro Bowl fourth season with the Jacksonville Jaguars, also stood out to Canales during the free agency planning process. The head coach believes he can make an impact because of his size, speed and intangibles.
“First of all, he’s productive on the ball — he had a fantastic year intercepting it,” Canales said. “Play-style-wise, (he’s) high energy, good range. He’s huge, by the way. He’s 6-3 and change. But a really heady player, and then on top of all of that, just the stuff I heard about him as a man. The leader that he is, the respect he had for teammates, all those different things. It was just kind of a great opportunity for us to bring him in there at a position that we really wanted to challenge by bringing in talent, through free agency or the draft, to make that room as competitive as some of our other rooms are.”
Here are five more takeaways from Canales in the desert:
Jonathon Brooks might be back soon
After spending all of last season on the physically unable to perform (PUP) list, third-year running back Jonathon Brooks appears to be ready for a return to regular workouts.
When asked if Brooks, who is coming off the second ACL surgery of his young career, would be available for the offseason program, Canales answered in the affirmative.
“Yep, I would think so,” Canales said. “All the work that he’s done up until this point, it’s all about putting him in a football scenario with other people around him. When we start with phase one (of the offseason program), we don’t see the defense — we’re not even on the field yet. So, we’re doing all that stuff, and then once we get into phase two, on the field, there is no opponent that we’re going against, so I would imagine he’d go through all of that stuff.”
Brooks missed the offseason program and training camp last year. He was placed on the PUP list before training camp and was sidelined with rehab through the NFC South-winning campaign.
While he has played in just three games since being selected with a second-round pick in 2024, the Panthers have left the door open for Brooks to have a big role in 2026.
The team signed veteran running back AJ Dillon earlier this month, but the former Philadelphia Eagles playmaker shouldn’t have much impact on Brooks’ role if the former Texas standout is healthy.
Still no timeline for Ickey Ekwonu
Panthers longtime left tackle Ickey Ekwonu still has an unknown outlook for the 2026 season. After undergoing patellar tendon surgery in January, the Panthers have left his recovery timeline open-ended.
The blindside blocker, who is in a contract year, might miss most — if not all — of the upcoming campaign.
“We won’t know until we start pushing on him,” Canales said.
With Ekwonu facing uncertainty, the Panthers pivoted to sign former Green Bay Packers offensive tackle Rasheed Walker in free agency. The team met with Walker and his agent on Zoom before signing him to a one-year deal.
“We’re fortunate to get Rasheed,” Canales said. “The guy’s got a bunch of experience and has played a lot of games. I feel great about that. Scheme-wise, he can do whatever you ask him. So, we feel good about the athlete.”
Walker is expected to serve as the Panthers’ Week 1 starting left tackle. The team has also added Stone Forsythe as a potential replacement for recently retired lineman Yosh Nijman at swing tackle.
Defense might look different beyond personnel
Canales said the Panthers want to mold the defense around their talent on the defensive front. While the additions of Phillips and Lloyd favor a 3-4 front, Canales said the team is discussing some potential changes to their alignments under Evero.
Canales mentioned that the Los Angeles Rams have started to mix in some hybrid looks to their defense. Evero, who calls a similar attack, might be able to adapt to the new recruits added to his unit.
With March Madness underway, Canales used a hardwood analogy to discuss the unit’s options with scheme flexibility.
“It just depends on what your basketball team ends up looking like,” Canales said. “Do I have a bunch of power forwards? Or do I have some (small forwards) that can be more versatile and (be a) slasher? So, it’ll be interesting to see where we end up right now with our group. I’d say Turk (Wharton) gives us a little bit of versatility that way. So does Bobby (Brown).”
The Panthers recently released former starting lineman A’Shawn Robinson. Now in Tampa Bay, Robinson had served as a versatile piece for the Panthers over the past two seasons.
Canales admits the loss of Robinson leaves a hole in the defensive line rotation.
“We’re missing a big piece of that — for a guy that can have the length but athleticism to play multiple spots,” Canales said. “So, that could a spot we potentially add to in the draft.”
All possibilities open at center
The Panthers lost former starting centers Cade Mays (Detroit) and Austin Corbett (Buffalo) during free agency. But they brought in former New Orleans Saints center Luke Fortner to mitigate those losses.
Fortner, who has plenty of starting experience, appears to be the first man up in the competition at center. While the Panthers are keeping their options open — including holdover lineman Nick Samac — Fortner could bring some wherewithal to the line. His authority on protections could then free up quarterback Bryce Young ahead of the snap.
“It just important to replace the experience we lost with Corbett and with Cade,” Canales said. “Luke certainly gives us that. He’ll be competing for the job. We also have Nick Samac, who we brought in and I’m excited about Nick. He looks good; he’s been training. We could draft a guy. So, we wanted to try to make that position really a competitve spot. Luke comes in — really sharp guy. If he wins the job, you put him between (left guard Damien Lewis) and (right guard Rob Hunt), and really have a guy that can drive it and allow Bryce to do his thing.”
While Fortner could be upstaged by Samac or a draft pick, the veteran is in position to be a starter heading into the offseason program.
“He’s a great, great option at the position,” Canales added. “So, really not thinking too much about play-style-wise with Luke — he’s got two massive men (to each side) — we’ll be able to do what we want with those guys next to him.”
Canales doesn’t believe in drafting for depth on Day 1
The Panthers are keeping their options open heading into April’s NFL Draft. While they’ve filled several holes in free agency, there are certain positions that could use from upgraded talent.
With the No. 19 pick in the first round, though, Canales isn’t looking for backups. The head coach, along with GM Dan Morgan and football operations chief Brandt Tilis, will likely look for an immediate impact player when it comes time to turn in their selection.
“At this point, with the 19th pick, we really have the opportunity to bring a player in that can help us immediately,” Canales said. “Who’s that going to be? Of course, Dan, Brandt, myself, are always going to say we want to take the best available player. That’s what we did last year. When you look at who was available at that spot at 8, (Tetairoa McMillan) was the best player. And so, we were able to do that. We’d like to do that again.
“I don’t really believe in drafting for depth or doing things like that,” Canales added. “It’s like, ‘Who can impact our team at that level?’ It could be a wideout. It could be a tight end. It could be a safety — there are a couple of dynamic safeties that could free us up. The pass-rush class, we still gotta see where we think the top guys are going. Look at the mocks and all that and see where there might be a bit of a dropoff there.”
Canales and the Panthers will have plenty of options at the aforementioned positions.
While tight end and safety aren’t considered premium positions, both spots could use a surefire upgrade. Wide receiver, even with McMillan and Jalen Coker situated as starters, would also benefit from infused speed.
Morgan and Canales have also constantly mentioned their belief in building in the trenches. So, defensive line could be an option as well.
