Joseph Ochoa
The Carolina Panthers had one of their best seasons in team history, posting a 15-1 record and reaching the Super Bowl for the second time in the franchise’s 21st year in the league. Despite the spectacular season by the team, the Panthers were run out of Levi’s Stadium by the Denver Broncos in a 24-10 loss in Super Bowl 50.
The game exposed a few flaws that the Panthers had going into the game and in all was not a particularly great matchup for the team. Here are some things the Panthers need to do to get back to the mountaintop.
Sign Josh Norman to a long-term deal.
The star cornerback for the Panthers has emerged over the last two years as one of the league’s best cornerbacks. The Coastal Carolina alumnus was franchise tagged by the Panthers, but it doesn’t guarantee that he will stay with the team beyond this year.
Based on the deals of other top corners such as the Arizona Cardinals’ Patrick Peterson, the Seattle Seahawks’ Richard Sherman and the New York Jets’ Darrelle Revis, the average salary for a top-five corner is about $64.6 million, generally over four or five years and an average of $14 million per year.
Early in general manager Dave Gettleman’s tenure in Carolina, the Panthers were notorious for not signing players to lengthy and expensive contract extensions. The recent extension of Cam Newton gives hope that Gettleman will be shelling out the money soon.
Get depth on the offensive line.
Granted, the Broncos had two all-pro pass rushers in Demarcus Ware and Super Bowl MVP Von Miller, the offensive tackles Michael Oher and Mike Remmers got exposed during the game. They aren’t terrible tackles for the team, but they are middle-of-the-road at best, and it’s a position that needs extra depth.
Former Seahawks left tackle Russell Okung and former Cincinnati Bengals right tackle Andre Smith are still available in free agency. Both were top-10 draft picks in the 2009 and 2010 NFL Drafts and are major upgrades at the position.
While Okung and Smith have interest from the Pittsburgh Steelers and Minnesota Vikings, respectively, there are still plenty of depth-building options on the market outside of those two.
Upgrade at the wide receiver position.
The Panthers were notorious this season for having subpar receivers after star wideout Kelvin Benjamin was lost for the year due to a torn ACL. Ted Ginn, who did have the best season of his career, had several major drops in crucial situations during the year.
The Panthers can solve that with adding another tight end threat to pair with Greg Olsen and adding wide receiver depth through free agency and the draft.
The Rams released Jared Cook, who has shown flashes of being a top-10 receiving tight end, and there hasn’t been any news of any interest in the Rams from other teams a week into free agency.
As for receiver, Ole Miss stud Laquon Treadwell will probably be off the board by the time the Panthers pick in the first round, but Corey Coleman of Baylor and Josh Doctson of TCU should still be available. Both Coleman and Doctson had over 1,000 receiving yards and more than 10 touchdowns over the last two seasons in college and would be good, speedy threats to go opposite Benjamin.
Add depth on defensive line.
The Panthers got an early jump on bolstering the depth by resigning Charles Johnson to a one-year contract, and Kony Ealy showed flashes of what’s still to come during the Super Bowl. However, with Jared Allen retiring, the Panthers could use a little insurance in the trenches.
Chris Long was recently cut by the Rams, and the former No. 2 overall pick is just 30 years old. In addition to Long, Nick Fairley is also on the market, giving the Panthers someone to add behind Star Lotulelei and Kawann Short in the middle.
The Panthers do have plenty of work to do to get ready for the upcoming season, but the potential is there for the team to be in the conversation as perennial championship contenders.