Panthers could start rebuild with these 5 under-the-radar free agents

Greg Auman

NFC South Reporter

Carolina has a new coach and general manager in place, and the rebranding begins in earnest with the start of free agency next week and the first chance to bring in the new players tasked with getting the Panthers back to winning football.

Carolina doesn’t have a massive budget for free-agent spending, though that could increase if the team trades Pro Bowl pass-rusher Brian Burns, who got the franchise tag this week. There’s the matter of re-signing linebacker Frankie Luvu, but for the most part, Carolina’s free agency will be about bringing in new faces who are familiar to the coaches and can help them change the culture.

So we offer up five under-the-radar free agents who have existing relationships with Panthers coaches and who would help them set the tone in a new locker room.

Colby Parkinson, TE, Seahawks

There could be a decent Seattle influence in these signings, as new head coach Dave Canales spent 13 years with the Seahawks before going to the Bucs last year. Same for new offensive coordinator Brad Idzik, who was with Canales in Seattle and was his right-hand man in Tampa as his receivers coach.

The Panthers got precious little out of their tight ends last season. They’ve already cut veteran Hayden Hurst despite guaranteed money left on his contract, and Tommy Tremble is a 2021 third-round pick who has yet to reach even 200 yards in any of his three seasons. It’s a position ripe for an upgrade, and a reliable tight end can be a huge boost to a young quarterback like Bryce Young.

So Parkinson makes a lot of sense as an inexpensive upgrade. He’s 25, has good size at 6-foot-7, 251 pounds and was a fourth-round pick out of Stanford in 2020. He’s had exactly 25 catches and two touchdowns in each of the past two seasons.

Idzik and Parkinson actually go all the way back to Stanford, overlapping in 2017-18 when Idzik was a young coach there. Parkinson’s best season was in 2018, when he…

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Publish date : 2024-03-07 16:43:07

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