The Carolina Panthers have been patient with their pass-rushing plans—and they’re not going to change them now.
Joe Person of The Athletic wrote about the team’s need for an edge defender on Sunday, addressing why they have yet to strike in free agency and when they possibly can. He penned the following:
For starters, the Panthers weren’t interested in giving Ngakoue what he received from the Bears, who needed to spend some money to reach the salary-cap floor. Also, nearly all of the available pass rushers are in their 30s — some well into their 30s — and likely weren’t keen on being at camp in the dog days of summer if they didn’t have to.
Lastly, Reich said the Panthers didn’t want to rush into anything. “Don’t want to jump the gun early,” he said. “Wanted to see how it worked out with Marquis, but keeping a pulse on that.”
But with the Panthers set to break camp Thursday, I could see them adding a pass rusher in the next week or so.
Ngakoue, who has ties to head coach Frank Reich and defensive line coach Todd Wash, agreed to a one-year, $10.5 million deal with Chicago on Thursday night. But, as Person notes, the Panthers always seemed to be priced out of the former Pro Bowler’s market.
So, they’ve stayed the course.
Defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero gave us an update on the position this past Friday, saying the competition adjacent to Brian Burns is brewing.
“Yetur’s [Gross-Matos] doing a great job, getting better,” he told reporters. “DJ’s [Johnson] coming along. [Amaré] Barno’s coming along. Kobe’s [Jones] is doing a great job. So as we get into camp, as we get more padded practices, as we get into the preseason games—I think it’ll tell more of the story.
“But really love the progression of those guys. But we need somebody to step up—that’s a fact. And we gotta continue to push those guys towards it.”
After Sunday, the Panthers will have three training camp practices left in Spartanburg—one on Tuesday and a pair of joint sessions with the New York Jets on Wednesday and Thursday. We may get a better idea of where they want to steer by then.
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