With the Panthers offseason underway and free agency just a few weeks away, let’s take a look at some of the areas on the roster that Dan Morgan and Brandt Tillis have to address this offseason. Instead of looking at the entire roster, we are going to break the list down by position group. For the projected market value, I’ll be using Spotrac’s numbers. If you don’t agree with how much a player might get in free agency, take it up with them, not me. This week’s focus will be on the wide receivers.
2025 Performance
We’re going to take a look at quarterbacks and running backs in this piece since both positions only have a few guys on the roster. Quarterbacks were a mixed bag, largely due to Bryce Young’s inconsistency. Young ended the season with a 71.0 overall PFF grade, which is solid if unspectacular and a slight dip from his 74.0 in 2024. What really surprised me was Bryce’s league-leading 99.7 PFF grade on throws of 20+ yards. This is likely due to a combination of small sample size and Bryce having Tetairoa McMillan on the outside whom he can trust. Still, Bryce set a career low with just 6.4 intended air yards per attempt (basically aDOT whether it was completed or not), so he wasn’t taking very many deep shots regardless of how well he performed on them. Young also threw for career-highs in completion percentage (63.6), yards (3,011), touchdowns (23) and passer rating (87.8). Backup Andy Dalton only saw the field in five games, including his Week 8 start against the Bills when Young was injured. Dalton struggled in that game and was underwhelming in his other situational snaps.
The running back room was a completely different story. Chuba Hubbard got off to a slow start due to nagging injuries, and Rico Dowdle stepped up big time. Dowdle eclipsed a thousand yards for the season, largely aided by back to back 180+ yard games on the ground. His effectiveness did trend downward as the season went on, probably due to a variety of factors like Chuba’s health improving and the offensive line dealing with injuries. Speaking of Chuba, most of his higher quality games were later in the season, though both backs struggled overall the last few weeks of the season. PFF was not kind to either of the Panthers main backs, grading Hubbard at 69.9 overall and Dowdle at 63.5 overall.
Panthers’ Free Agents (with Spotrac expected market value)
Rico Dowdle, RB ($6.5M)
Rico has made it pretty clear that he is interested in joining a team that will give him the lion’s share of carries. With Chuba Hubbard being a team centerpiece on the field and in the locker room, and considering the young talented players Jonathon Brooks and Trevor Etienne both returning (hopefully fully healthy) next season, it looks unlikely that the Panthers would be able to guarantee that type of commitment. In true “prove it” deal fashion, Dowdle made himself a ton of money and will move on to another team.
Other Teams’ Free Agents (with Spotrac expected market value)
Breece Hall, New York Jets ($10.4M)
Kenneth Walker III, Seattle Seahawks ($9.0M)
Tyler Allgeier, Atlanta Falcons ($1.85M)
Miles Sanders, Dallas Cowboys ($1.75M)
Daniel Jones, Indianapolis Colts ($43.4M)
Zach Wilson, Miami Dolphins ($1.63M)
Trey Lance, Los Angeles Chargers ($1.43M)
The Panthers likely won’t address either position in free agency since they’re only likely to lose Dowdle. The rest of the crew is under contract for next season, so unless they feel the need to move on from Andy Dalton or one of the young running backs, we’ll likely only see a late round flyer on either position if either is addressed at all. Still, there are some intriguing options. Obviously Hall and Walker III are off the table, but a familiar foe in Allgeier or a former friend in Miles Sanders could be some nice depth and insurance for Brooks in the event he isn’t fully healthy.
From a quarterback perspective, I don’t know why anyone would pay Daniel Jones that much money. Still, a still young-ish veteran backup like Zach Wilson or Trey Lance would be cheap options to back up Bryce Young over a longer term than Dalton. A post-June 1st cut of Dalton would save about $2M in cap space, but that’s what the team would be spending on one of these free agent QBs, so the logic just isn’t there. If they want to take a flyer on a guy like Lance as the practice squad/third string QB, fine, but it would not make sense to replace Dalton this season.