Carolina Panthers general manager Dan Morgan. Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
The Carolina Panthers are proud of where they stand after the first wave of free agency.
Still, as general manager Dan Morgan put it Wednesday:
“There’s still work to do.”
Morgan and executive vice president of football operations Brandt Tilis spoke with reporters Wednesday to discuss where the team stands after the first wave of free agency — a time frame that yielded a bunch of new additions on defense. Among those additions: defensive tackle Turk Wharton, safety Tre’Von Moehrig, DT Bobby Brown III, EDGE rusher Patrick Jones II and linebacker Christian Rozeboom.
Carolina also picked up running back Rico Dowdle, fresh off a 1,000-yard season with the Cowboys, and notably extended Pro Bowler Jaycee Horn to a deal that, for a moment, made him the highest paid corner in league history.
Here are five takeaways from what Morgan and Tilis said on Wednesday.
Carolina Panthers General Manager Dan Morgan speaks during a press conference at Bank of America Stadium on Monday, January 6, 2025. Isaiah Vazquez CHARLOTTE OBSERVER
Panthers actively pursuing another safety
They’re not being shy about it — and nor should they be: The Panthers are in the market for another safety.
That fact was evident without Morgan saying so Wednesday. The Panthers, after all, only have three safeties on their roster at the moment: Moehrig, Demani Richardson (a pleasant surprise for the team after going undrafted in 2024), and newly re-signed Nick Scott (who’s also an effective gunner on special teams).
To build on the defensive backfield is of high importance for the roster, Morgan said. And to give a ball-hawking partner-in-crime to Moehrig — a self-aware enforcer who had career numbers for the Raiders after playing closer to the line of scrimmage last year — is invaluable.
The Panthers are already in the game. The Observer reported Monday that Carolina hosted safeties Julian Blackmon (Colts) and Marcus Williams (Ravens) — both with credentials in coverage.
“Obviously as you guys saw, we brought in a few veterans,” Morgan said. “There are a few guys on the street that we like, that we think can help us. We’ll see what happens there. And in the draft, I think there’s a good crop of safeties there, too.
“We know that that’s a position we need to address. The numbers aren’t where they need to be there. But they’ll get there. We’re just going to stay patient, stay with the plan, and let it happen.”
Sep 22, 2024; Paradise, Nevada, USA; Las Vegas Raiders safety Tre’von Moehrig (7) has words with Carolina Panthers tight end Tommy Tremble (82) and Las Vegas Raiders cornerback Darnay Holmes (30) during the fourth quarter at Allegiant Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images Stephen R. Sylvanie USA TODAY NETWORK
Is wide receiver priority No. 1 for Panthers in NFL Draft?
The work the Panthers did to beef up their defense during free agency offers them immense “flexibility” as they search for “playmakers” in the upcoming NFL Draft in a few weeks, Morgan said.
Is this a coded message to say: We’re eyeing a wide receiver with the No. 8 pick?
Not quite.
“I don’t think it’s affected it that much,” Morgan said on how the team’s free agency set up their NFL Draft. “I mean, like I said to you guys before, we’re going to take the best players. So however that ends up on the board, when it comes to pick eight — whether pick eight is an offensive guy or a defensive guy, we’re just going to draft the best player that we feel is going to help our team, help our organization.”
He added: “We’re really not going to box ourselves in with any position, or any need. I think that’s when you get yourself into trouble, when you do those types of things.”
Carolina Panthers quarterback Bryce Young (9) scrambles against the Atlanta Falcons in Sunday’s third quarter at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Brett Davis-Imagn Images
Inside the Panthers missing out on sought-after DL Milton Williams
Perhaps the biggest news for the Panthers on the first day of the legal tampering period prior to free agency involved someone the team didn’t end up signing.
It was about the “frenzy” of defensive lineman Milton Williams.
Early in the day, media reports wrote that Williams — coming off a huge Super Bowl-impacting performance for the Eagles where he notched two sacks, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery — was heading to the Panthers. That fell through.
Still, such a result yielded opportunity. The Patriots ended up signing Milton to a 4-year, $104 million contract, and that money allowed the Panthers to plug a lot of other holes. And there were a lot when you consider this team allowed over 3,000 rushing yards and an NFL all-time record of 534 points in 2024.
Here’s how that whole situation went down, according to Tilis.
“In free agency, things tend to move fast,” Tilis said. “So we have scenarios planned out ahead of time as far as acquiring this group of players, that group of players. So when the Milton thing didn’t go our way, we were just following a plan. And even during the frenzy — whatever you want to call it, whatever it was — we never felt like we had an agreement with Milton. His agent never gave us that indication.
“So we were just operating our plan. And we were going through our process, in talking to all the different players, and just trying to take the resources that we have and put them to the most optimal use.”
Feb 9, 2025; New Orleans, LA, USA; Philadelphia Eagles defensive tackle Milton Williams (93) celebrates a fumble recovery in the fourth quarter in Super Bowl LIX at Ceasars Superdome. Mandatory Credit: Stephen Lew-Imagn Images Stephen Lew USA TODAY NETWORK
Extending Jaycee Horn to huge deal before free agency was key
Even if the Panthers have plenty of work to do when it comes the safety position, they didn’t just sit on their hands when it came to the defensive backfield.
The big news: the extension of Jaycee Horn.
The 25-year-old Pro Bowl cornerback signed a four-year contract worth a total of $100 million with $70 million in guaranteed money. That made him the highest paid corner in NFL history — that is, before the Houston Texans signed Derek Stingley Jr. not long after to a contract with even more guaranteed money.
Tilis and Morgan each echoed that locking down Horn was imperative before free agency so the team knew how much salary cap space it had before the new league year began.
As far as the decision of extending or not extending Horn?
“We got to a point internally where we said, ‘OK, here’s a player who worked his tail off to be healthy for most of the season, got a little unlucky toward the end, was able to play in the Pro Bowl, and how do we want to go about this? This is a core player for us. Are we going to bet on Jaycee or bet against him?’
“And so we elected to bet on him. And we’re extremely excited to have him here for the next five years.”
Carolina Panthers cornerback Jaycee Horn smiles as he walks to training camp practice on Thursday, July 25, 2024. JEFF SINER jsiner@charlotteobserver.com
Dan Morgan excited for Rico Dowdle running back addition
The Panthers announced they’d signed Rico Dowdle to a one-year contract not long after they released running back Miles Sanders.
Morgan said he was really excited for Sanders and his new opportunity in Dallas — Dowdle and Sanders effectively swapped teams, yes — and that he’s equally excited to watch how Dowdle’s similarly violent running style matches up with Chuba Hubbard, the team’s leader in the backfield who just signed a four-year extension in 2024.
“Both can catch the ball out of the backfield,” Morgan said. “They can both pass protect. And they’re obviously both good runners that we’re excited about.”
Dec 15, 2024; Charlotte, North Carolina, USA; Dallas Cowboys running back Rico Dowdle (23) runs out of a tackle by Carolina Panthers linebacker Claudin Cherelus (53) during the first quarter at Bank of America Stadium. Jim Dedmon Imagn Images
The Charlotte Observer
Alex Zietlow writes about the Carolina Panthers and the ways in which sports intersect with life for The Charlotte Observer, where he has been a reporter since August 2022. Zietlow’s work has been honored by the N.C. and S.C. Press Associations, as well as the Associated Press Sports Editors (APSE) group. He’s earned five APSE Top 10 distinctions, most recently in the Long Features category in 2024. Zietlow previously wrote for The Herald in Rock Hill (S.C.) from 2019-22.