The Carolina Panthers spared no expense when it came to fortifying the defensive trenches this offseason. Dan Morgan had no other option after a historically poor campaign, but this was always going to come with some collateral damage.
It became clear who the biggest sacrificial lamb would be before Carolina reached the cut-down deadline. Adam Schefter from ESPN reported, which was later confirmed by other local beat writers, that the Panthers were releasing Shy Tuttle. This was something of a surprise, but there weren't many tears shed from the fans' perspective.
Tuttle was set up to fail in Carolina. When Ejiro Evero came into the fold and switched to a 3-4 base defensive scheme, the Panthers didn't find a legitimate nose tackle capable of eating up space. This left the coordinator turning to his free-agent signing to fill the void, even though he had little to no experience manning the anchor in a 3-4 front.
Shy Tuttle falls victim to the numbers game with Carolina Panthers
While Tuttle was never found wanting for effort, he wasn't big enough or strong enough to be successful deployed at the nose. He was often overawed in his first season, which left many wondering if the Panthers would find an upgrade entering Year 2 for Evero.
They did not. And they paid a heavy price.
The Panthers stubbornly churned out Tuttle at a position he just wasn't suited for again. Losing Pro Bowl lineman Derrick Brown after just one game only exposed this further as Carolina gave up more than 3,000 rushing yards and the most single-season points in NFL history.
Morgan had seen enough. He spent lavish sums on Tershawn Wharton, Patrick Jones II, and Bobby Brown III — a true nose tackle — in free agency. They drafted Nic Scourton, Princely Umanmielen, and Cam Jackson to fortify depth on the front seven. That pushed everyone else down the pecking order, and these reinforcements arguably impacted Tuttle more than anybody.
What the future holds for Tuttle is unclear. He might catch on somewhere as a backup 4-3 defensive tackle, but his days as a nose tackle are over. The former Tennessee standout tried valiantly to put the team first and make the best out of a bad situation, but he wasn't up to the required standards.
The Panthers need to hold their fair share of the blame. Tuttle should never have been a starting nose tackle in the first place. The fact that Evero continued with this mindset for two full seasons was organizational malpractice.
And if Evero cannot turn the defense around in 2025, he'll be following Tuttle out the door.