Panthers free agency: Day 1 recap and rumors

Carolina is all in on Bryce Young and Ejiro Evero

Yesterday saw a flurry of activity with the Carolina Panthers welcoming, losing, and launching away a dizzying array of talent in a short window. For a quick list of all of yesterday’s transactions, check out our free agency tracker here.

What did we learn yesterday?

The main takeaway from yesterday is that this team is, unsurprisingly, all in on Bryce Young this year. They also look to be sneakily setting themselves up to have a big 2025. The defense became a ghost town while the offensive line got beefier. The team also unloaded a bunch of contracts that will be fully off the books at the start of the 2025 league year.

With an expected focus on receiver in the draft—and possibly some moves left to be made in free agency—they are going to give Young all the room they can afford to prove that he’s the guy this year.

I hope Evero loves swiss cheese

Meanwhile, the front seven and the secondary seem set up to guarantee that Ejiro Evero doesn’t earn any head coaching interviews next offseason. With the departures of Frankie Luvu, Yetur Gross-Matos, and Brian Burns, the Panthers linebacker/edge group is looking thinner than ever.

The team has Shaq Thompson, Amare Barno, D.J. Johnson, Eku Leota, Claudin Cherelus, Luiji Vilain, and Chandler Wooten under contract as linebackers. Nick Thurman is the only defensive end.

The secondary is shaky enough with the cutting of Vonn Bell and expected release of Donte Jackson, but that front seven is frighteningly thin.

Rumors for today

• It has been rumored that the Panthershave no intention of re-signing safety/linebacker tweener Jeremy Chinn. He has yet to find his perfect fit after a promising first two seasons.
• To replace him and/or Bell, the Panthers have been linked to former Denver Broncos safety and Evero player Justin Simmons.
• The Panthers are also apparently in the mix for Patrick Queen. Look for him to sign somewhere today.