Grading the previous five eventful Carolina Panthers offseasons

Carolina Panthers 2021 offseason grade: D

If this article were to have been written during the first month of the 2021 season, the grade would probably be a lot higher. The fact of the matter, though, is that in the long run, the Carolina Panthers’ 2021 offseason moves proved to be much worse than initially indicated.

When they were 3-0, Sam Darnold was playing well, the offensive line wasn’t awful, and the defense was playing at an absolutely elite level. Three months at 14 games later, the protection became one of the worst in the league, the signal-caller committed turnover after turnover, and Cam Newton became the scapegoat for the team’s struggles.

Looking back to the offseason though, the issues should have been and were by many, expected. It was obvious that Carolina needed to address the offensive line. While that was the case, the likes of Cam Erving and Pat Elflein were bizarre acquisitions.

Both struggled with injuries throughout the season and weren’t very good even when healthy. Aside from them, John Miller was re-signed, Dennis Daley was plugged into positions all across the line, and Michael Jordan, who was responsible for Joe Burrow’s gruesome 2020 knee injury, took a significant number of snaps.

None proved to be very effective.

The one offensive lineman who showed promise, Brady Christensen, wasn’t played at his natural position and served mostly as a backup all year.

Now to the positives, Hasson Reddick was a beast on the Carolina defense. He led the team with 11 sacks in his first year and did it on an extremely team-friendly deal. A.J. Bouye, who was also signed during the offseason, played well in most cases, as did defensive tackle DaQuan Jones.

In the draft, the Panthers snagged cornerback Jaycee Horn in the first round. He showed immense potential before going down in Week 3 with a broken foot. Fifth-round pick Keith Taylor also showed promise in the secondary, and as mentioned above, Christensen also played decently well when given an opportunity.

Overall though, the Darnold trade with the New York Jets and the inability to do anything to boost the offensive line dooms this offseason.

Really the only reason the 2021 offseason doesn’t earn a failing grade is because of Reddick and the play of Horn when he was healthy. Other than those two, none of the Panthers’ moves made much positive impact.

With any luck, 2022 will be better for the Carolina Panthers. It needs to be that’s for sure.