5 Carolina Panthers who will (probably) be gone in 2025 at the bye week
By Dean Jones
General manager Dan Morgan had a tough task on his hands during an eventful first offseason at the helm. The Carolina Panthers' roster was devoid of sufficient depth or genuine quality. There's a long way to go and a lot of hard work ahead, but the new front office leader did a tremendous job in difficult circumstances.
Most of Morgan's first draft class is contributing. He's unearthed a couple of undrafted gems in the form of Jalen Coker and Demani Richardson. The large majority of the Panthers' free-agent acquisitions are also featuring heavily despite some failed acquisitions.
This is just the first step in Morgan's long-term plan to get the Panthers off rock bottom and back to respectability. He's probably got a good idea of how to approach the 2025 recruitment period. Carolina is also well positioned with a bevy of draft picks and more financial flexibility than in recent years.
There is still time for players looking for new deals to improve or decrease their hopes of an extended stay. With this in mind, here are five who will probably be gone next spring based on how they've performed up to Carolina's 2024 bye week.
Carolina Panthers who will (probably) be gone in 2025 at the bye
Nick Scott - Carolina Panthers S
Ejiro Evero surrounded himself with players he's worked with previously throughout the offseason. The Carolina Panthers lost several established stars on defense as part of Dan Morgan's investment transition. Some new arrivals paid off while others fell by the wayside.
Nick Scott fell into the latter. There were concerns around the veteran safety after a down year with the Cincinnati Bengals in 2023. Reuniting with Evero provided some hope. It didn't take long for this to fizzle out.
The Panthers deployed Scott as a backup piece over the early stages of the campaign. Once Jordan Fuller went to injured reserve, the former seventh-round pick out of Penn State was thrust into the starting lineup.
It was not a valuable experience for Scott, who looked lost in coverage support and couldn't impact proceedings effectively enough against the run. One only has to look at how well Demani Richardson performed in his absence through injury to see how lackluster things quickly became.
Scott was worth a chance and came with Evero's seal of approval. Even so, the chance of him getting a reprieve when the time comes to decide his fate during the offseason is remote.