The Carolina Panthers have an important offseason ahead. For general manager Dan Morgan, this involves finding the correct reinforcements to kickstart this ambitious project to even greater heights.
People around the league are starting to look at the Panthers differently. They took some notable scalps throughout the 2025 season. They won eight games. They secured their first NFC South title in a decade. They pushed the Los Angeles Rams extremely close before eventually falling in the wild-card playoff round.
Everything is finally looking up after years of abject misery. And Morgan believes they have an ace up their sleeve that will make Carolina a more attractive destination for pending free agents this spring.
Carolina Panthers plan to use Dave Canales' culture as a major selling point for free agents
Morgan thinks the culture being built by head coach Dave Canales will make it easier to convince targets that this is the place for them. His unrivaled enthusiasm and supreme focus resonate strongly with modern-day players. That is something Carolina's front-office leader plans to lean into when the recruitment period commences.
"I think definitely having some success makes it easier to attract those free agents. But I would also say having a coach like Coach Canales, I think guys are going to want to come here, and they're going to want to play for him. Just the way that he carries himself, the enthusiasm that he has on a day-to-day basis, the way he leads those guys, this is a fun environment, we work really hard, but we also have fun doing what we do. And if I was a player again, I would want to play for a coach like that."Dan Morgan via Panthers.com
One only has to look at how the players speak so glowingly about Canales to see why this would be a strong selling point for Morgan.
Even through some dark days during his early period as head coach, his belief, purpose, and motivational techniques never wavered. He knew this was going to take time. Canales also knew that staying on an even keel would help everyone in the locker room come together.
It's not the finished article just yet. However, things look a lot more promising two years into Canales' reign.
The region was electrified by the Panthers' first playoff game since 2017. They didn't advance any further, but this could be the catalyst behind a prosperous period in franchise history with the right additions in free agency and the 2026 NFL Draft.
Morgan believes that convincing veteran players who can make a significant difference will be much easier with Canales leading the charge. And the results speak for themselves.