5 ambitious goals for the Carolina Panthers 2022 offseason period

Carolina Panthers run it back with the same defense

The Carolina Panthers were already well on their way to having a top-five defense last season. But with a new year comes change and a lot of the key pieces to that team may not be around for the coming campaign.

While there are many issues to rectify on the offensive side of things, that doesn’t mean the defense should be left to its own devices and allowed to stagnate. Bringing back the rising stars of 2021 needs to be a top priority this offseason, but it will not be an easy one.

A player like Haason Reddick took last season as a prove-it year to show the league that his breakout 2020 wasn’t a fluke and the former Arizona Cardinal did that and so much more. This means the price tag is likely to be very steep to keep him around.

Then there is Stephon Gilmore.

Even as a midseason acquisition, the former NFL Defensive Player of the Year did more than enough for the team and fans alike to want him around for the long haul no matter what that cost might end up being.

With high-level talent like that, there are bound to be hard cuts made somewhere. Those will likely come in the form of DaQuan Jones and possibly even Morgan Fox. Both are solid players but not good enough to keep instead of Reddick or Gilmore.

The ambitious part of this goal comes in the fact that the Panthers are not exactly the most glamorous of spots let alone the fact the team is working with a very tight budget this offseason as well. So not only will these players have to come back to a team unlikely to compete, they will more than likely have to take a pay cut to do so.

Scott Fitterer will have to work some magic to make this happen. But if he does, it will put this team in a prime position to compete in a couple of years.