4 players the Carolina Panthers should have retained this offseason

Mike Davis – Former Carolina Panthers RB

Matt Rhule has been preaching about adopting a power-running game for weeks. So it’s clear this is something that the head coach has wanted for quite some time and played a leading role in Joe Brady being shown the door.

The Carolina Panthers don’t have the personnel to successfully deploy this philosophy from the outside looking in. Their offensive line is terrible, with Chuba Hubbard and Ameer Abdullah both preferring to generate yards off the edge rather than between the tackles.

That’s not including the fact Carolina is without the services of Christian McCaffrey for the rest of the season.

Had the Panthers retained Mike Davis rather than let him walk in free agency, it would have made things easier for Brady to make Rhule’s wishes come true. And the former South Carolina star did perform well in McCaffrey’s absence overall in 2020.

Perhaps it was this level of performance that forced Carolina’s hand. However, the two-year, $5.5 million deal with $3 million guaranteed he signed with the Atlanta Falcons wasn’t exactly earth-shattering and if the Panthers really wanted to keep the player, something could have been worked out.

Davis has struggled to make a similar impact in Atlanta. But styles make fights and his numbers last season indicate he’d have played a big part once again this time around.