Another expensive March for the Panthers
It's easy to understand why, but the Panthers will need to break this cycle eventually.
There are multiple ways to build a football team.
Spending large amounts of money every March isn’t a sustainable way of doing business.
Every once in a blue moon? Sure.
But annually? Not ideal.
This marks the third consecutive March that the Carolina Panthers have dolled out a ton of cash.
I’m sure Dan Morgan and the rest of the Panthers front office would prefer not to continue filling key roster spots this way.
The reality is they kind of have to right now.
Consistent misses in the draft and mismanagement of those assets from 2020 to 2023 have led to three consecutive spending sprees in March.
In fairness, most of the big money that was spent in 2025 and 2025 panned out. Robert Hunt, Damien Lewis and Tre'von Moehrig have helped the Panthers crawl out of the wreckage of the 2023 season that could’ve kept the franchise spiraling in the abyss.
The Panthers are hoping that Jaelen Phillips and Devin Lloyd can help their defense take another step forward in 2026.
We covered the Panthers nonexistent pressure rates last month here. A quick recap per FTN:
Pressures: 32nd (121)
The New York Jets were 31st with 137 pressures.
Pressure rate: 32nd (21.4 percent) - 32nd.
The San Francisco 49ers were 31st at 22.6 percent.
Sacks: Tied for 30th (30)
Clean Pocket Throw Percentage: 32nd (78.6 percent).
QB hits: 32nd (53).
Phillips had 73 pressures alone in 2025. Lloyd brings a major talent infusion to the linebacker group and is coming off his best year as a pro.
There’s still a lot of work to do, but these move should improve the team and give the Panthers more flexibility in the draft next month.
While the jury is still out on the 2024 draft, the 2025 class had a big impact on the field for the Panthers.
They’ll need to continue to stack good classes in the draft to avoid breaking the bank each March.