Carolina Panthers' latest roster move affirms pass-rush desperation

There were legitimate concerns around the pass rush from fans before the season. The Carolina Panthers brushed this off, claiming they had the pieces needed despite Brian Burns, Frankie Luvu, and Yetur Gross-Matos departing the franchise. These attempts to quash doubts haven't translated to a competitive setting.

Carolina's pass rush has been non-existent through five weeks. They're averaging 1.2 sacks per game - which is second worst behind the Atlanta Falcons league-wide. None of the younger players tipped to make strides have met even modest expectations. This is having a ripple effect on veteran Jadeveon Clowney, who's finding life difficult as the focus of opposing protection schemes with no legitimate force opposite him on Ejiro Evero's 3-4 defensive front.

Dan Morgan sacrificed some defensive pieces to focus on building the offense throughout his first offseason as general manager. This was a risk he felt could help, but benching quarterback Bryce Young after just two games and the constant stream of injuries weren't in the script. The Panthers are suffering heavily as a result during what already looks to be a lost season in the first campaign under head coach Dave Canales' leadership.

Carolina Panthers paper over their pass-rushing cracks with Shaq Lawson signing

Morgan is trying to make the best of a bad situation. He's running out of options with quality free agents few and far between remaining on the market. This is a treading water exercise before another important offseason in 2025. Fixing the edge is arguably the top priority above all else when the next recruitment period begins.

The Panthers' latest roster move affirmed the inner concern surrounding the defensive edge. Carolina signed DeShawn Williams to the active roster and brought former first-round pick Shaq Lawson onto the practice squad with the intent to get him involved almost immediately.

Lawson's been a serviceable rotational piece throughout his career without hitting the heights expected of a No. 19 overall selection. The Clemson product featured in 33 percent of defensive snaps for the Buffalo Bills last season and has 26 sacks in eight years. Not exactly jaw-dropping numbers, but one could strongly state this represents an upgrade on anything aside from Clowney - at least until D.J. Wonnum returns from a torn quad.

That's a sorry state of affairs, in all honesty. It's a risk Morgan was willing to take in pursuit of making the offense somewhat functional in Canales' first season at the helm. That hasn't gone according to plan, so the Panthers must paper over the cracks and hope the leak stops.

Hopefully, Lawson can put his experience to good use and hit the ground running. He's another aging player similar to Charles Harris, who's underperformed more often than not. Tempering expectations would be wise, but any contribution is better than nothing looking at how things have unfolded up to now.

Morgan's investment transition was always going to have a detrimental impact on the defense. People are now starting to see it with the Bryce Young benching becoming old news. Losing Pro Bowl defensive lineman Derrick Brown and veteran linebacker Shaq Thompson to season-ending injuries wasn't planned, but it's not like this defense was performing well at full strength in any case.

Make no mistake, the Panthers must give their pass rush - a critical discipline in today's NFL - the respect it deserves during the spring. Otherwise, the same complications will rear their ugly head once again.

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