With all 32 NFL teams preparing for OTAs and mandatory minicamps, Athlon Sports is going under the hood to see what key questions remain for each team before training camps open in July. These questions might not get answered at minicamps, but any opportunity for new coaches to get familiar with their roster, rookies to get a feel for life in the NFL and free agents to get comfortable with a new team can be helpful.
Today's focus is the Carolina Panthers, who stole the NFC South title at the buzzer last season, their first division crown since their 2015 team went 15-1 and made it to a Super Bowl. In what should be another wide-open race this season, head coach Dave Canales and company will be looking to hang back-to-back banners.
If they want to make that happen, the Panthers will have to find answers to these three questions as they prepare for the upcoming season:
Will Bryce Young finally live up to his draft slot?
The Panthers gave up a king's ransom to the right to make Young the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, including the pick that eventually gift-wrapped Caleb Williams for the Chicago Bears at the top of the 2024 draft. Fair or not, Young's success (or lack thereof) will always exist under the shadow of what Carolina gave up to choose him, and he's running out of time to prove worthy of the investment.
Young is heading into Year 4 of his rookie contract, and the Panthers have already picked up his fifth-year option for the 2027 season. That's a commitment of nearly $26 million, but if the team were convinced that Young was truly their franchise quarterback of both the present and future, they would have already signed him to a long-term extension by now.
Over his three seasons in Carolina, Young has made 44 starts, throwing for 8,291 yards, 49 touchdowns, and 30 interceptions, while completing 61.4 percent of his passes. That averages out to barely more than 3,000 passing yards, 18 touchdown passes, and 11 interceptions over a 17-game season. The Panthers are 14-30 with Young as their starting quarterback.
There's plenty of blame to go around when it comes to that last number, from Young' lackluster supporting cast, to inconsistent management from the franchise as a whole. But if Young wants to prove himself worthy of that lucrative long-term deal, he'll need to take his own play to a new level in 2026, regardless of what's happening around him.
How much will Rico Dowdle's departure impact the offense?
After a breakout 2024 campaign with the Dallas Cowboys, Dowdle signed a one-year deal with the Panthers to provide depth behind Chuba Hubbard, who was coming off his own impressive season. Despite the fact that Hubbard had signed a contract extension the prior November, Dowdle eventually wrestled the lead job away in 2025, making 11 starts to Hubbard's six, and doubling his production.
Dowdle signed with the Pittsburgh Steelers in free agency this offseason, looking for a third straight 1,000-yard rushing season with a third different team.
On paper, the Panthers still have a talented backfield. Chuba Hubbard has proven he can put up big numbers as a featured back (see 2024), Jonathon Brooks was the first running back selected in the 2024 NFL Draft (a second-round pick out of Texas), Trevor Etienne is just 22 years old with tons of upside, and AJ Dillon brings power and experience.
But Hubbard will have to prove he can still be the same player who was so productive two years again, Brooks will have to finally stay healthy after multiple serious injuries, Etienne will have to turn his potential into production, and Dillon will have to stay healthy to be a factor. Young will need a reliable ground attack if he's going to live up to his own potential, and the loss of Dowdle's reliable production and physical playing style could make that more difficult this year.
Will their big-money free agents deliver?
The Panthers already have two of the league's best players at their respective positions in Derrick Brown and Jaycee Horn, but they needed more to take that unit to the next level. That's why they broke the bank this offseason with two of the biggest defensive signings across the entire league, adding a high-end pass rusher in Jaelen Phillips, and a versatile linebacker in Devin Lloyd.
Carolina has invested multiple early-round picks in edge defenders recently, but they still haven't been able to replicate the impact Brian Burns had before they traded him to the New York Giants. The hope is that Phillips can finally fill that void, hence the massive four-year deal worth up to $120 million, with $80 million in guaranteed money.
Ditto for Lloyd, the top off-ball linebacker on the open market this offseason. A former first-round pick out of Utah, Lloyd enjoyed a breakout season for the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2025, but wasn't retained. In Carolina, he'll give the Panthers a three-down defender with an impressive blend of size, length and athleticism, and a knack for making splash plays when the ball gets near him.
History says the chance of big-ticket free agent signings living up to their new contracts is pretty slim, but the Panthers are banking on Phillips and Lloyd being the exception to the rule. If they do, they'll combine with Brown and Horn (and rookies like Lee Hunter) to give them one of the better defenses in the NFC. If they don't, it'll be another cautionary tale about spending big in the offseason when there haven't been enough hits coming in the draft.
