CHARLOTTE — March gets everybody all excited. Your team of preference hasn't lost a game in months, the hope created by the draft is out there on the horizon, and the promise of immediate help is right there in front of you.
And a media economy built on noise for attention is happy to provide enthusiasm, whether it's real or deserved.
But the right way to attack free agency is far different than what many people seem to believe, or want to believe.
You can get a bunch of fans excited about a Tee Higgins or a Joey Bosa or some recognizable name. But that's not the best way to do business unless you get paid per social engagement. In a perfect world, teams would only use free agency to fill in a blank or two a year, and if you're close to making a push for a Super Bowl, a splash for a name brand can make sense. But in the spot the Panthers are in, you can still spend money; you just have to do it differently.
Few people had Robert Hunt or Damien Lewis on their wish lists last spring, much less both of them. But those two made a difference in the Panthers, well, as big as they are. Dropping $150 million worth of contract on 650 (ish) pounds of guard was a big move designed to solve a big problem. The Panthers used seven left guards and eight right guards in 2023, and allowed 65 sacks. So a big move was needed.
But signing a 27-year-old Dolphins guard and a 26-year-old Seahawks guard were examples of the right way to do it, if you have to do it at all. Find the young ones who have starting experience, that's the sweet spot. Find the ones that fill immediate needs in a big way. (If they're literally big, that also helps.)
And it seems reasonable that the Panthers are going to target some big ones next week, at least one. General manager Dan Morgan promised at the combine last week that he planned to address their defensive issues the same way he attacked the offensive line problem a year ago. So imagine a new starting defensive tackle to park next to Derrick Brown. And a safety, and maybe a pass-rusher.
But you can't do it with all names. The Panthers have tried that before. That star-studded defensive line of 2000, with Reggie White, Chuck Smith, Sean Gilbert, and Eric Swann? Yeah, that was more South of the Border than Mount Rushmore (10.5 sacks all year between them). When they needed a receiver in 2006 to replace Muhsin Muhammad, they went out and signed Keyshawn Johnson. Seemed like a great idea at the time, and he was entertaining, but the thing he was best at turned out to be annoying teammates.
Dipping into free agency strategically can make a huge difference, of course. The Panthers got to the NFC Championship Game in their second season thanks in large part to unrestricted free agents Wesley Walls, Kevin Greene, and Eric Davis. They went to their first Super Bowl in 2003, thanks in large part to spring acquisitions Jake Delhomme, Ricky Proehl, and Stephen Davis. They went to their second Super Bowl, thanks in at least some part to Kurt Coleman and Charles Tillman, among others.
Eventually, you become stable by replacing free agents with draft picks (Justin Hartwig was good, but Ryan Kalil was better). But before the current Panthers can do that, they will have to spend on veterans. And if this year's splashes work out as well as last year's, they might someday get to a point where the money they spend is on more second contracts for their homegrown stars.