CHARLOTTE — Last week, the Panthers were surrounded by the young ones in Indianapolis.

This week, their gaze turns to the pending start of free agency and adding experienced players.

But as they create their plans to build the 2025 Panthers, the challenge is blending the two into a coherent whole.

General manager Dan Morgan found a compatible partner for this effort in head coach Dave Canales. Morgan has the personnel guy's preference for draft-and-develop, and Canales is all about the making players better, even older players.

"Knowing coach Canales and knowing the program that he came from under Pete Carroll (in Seattle), it's a developmental program, and Dave looks at it like that," Morgan said in Indianapolis. "So in terms of us, whether it's getting something in free agency or getting something in the draft, I don't think (Canales) really cares. He wants to develop players. He takes it as a challenge, and he's not scared to play young guys. That's what you love about the first five picks last year; we do like young guys. I mean, it's not going to sway us one way or another, but it is nice to have young guys that can grow and develop, especially on a team that's building, building a locker room, building a culture, and building a team.

"So it's nice to have some of those young guys, but you also have to mix in some of these veterans too just to kind of show these guys."

That effort will begin at noon next Monday, when the free agent negotiation period opens, and the Panthers and the rest of the league can discuss deals with veterans. They can't become final until the league year begins at 4 p.m. Wednesday, but it's an important component of the overall build.

The Panthers have 19 unrestricted free agents remaining (after re-signing quarterback Andy Dalton and long snapper JJ Jansen), and that kind of turnover was also part of their plan. Of those 19 free agents, 11 of them arrived on one-year deals last offseason.

Along with executive vice president of football operations Brandt Tilis, they have emphasized that kind of flexibility when signing a large group of free agents last year to fill in a lot of blanks, while avoiding excessive future contractual liabilities and dead money charges for players no longer on the roster. The Panthers have 53 players under contract at the moment, and just 21 under contract through 2026 or beyond, as this build remains in its early stages.

Morgan acknowledged that in that same way they fleshed out the offensive line a year ago (by making early splashes for Robert Hunt and Damien Lewis), this year's priority was on fixing the defense.

"We're just looking to bring playmakers in here on both sides of the ball, and obviously we want as many playmakers as possible on the offensive side of the ball and same thing defensive side of the ball," Morgan said. "So you know we're just going to bring the best players in here and not so much focus on just building it around a particular person.

"I think, obviously, where your resources go is where you see the value. And I think it's pretty obvious that the offense and defensive fronts, they have to be strong in this league or you really don't have a chance. So we have to make sure that we stay strong on the offensive side of the ball, and we have to build it the right way on the defensive side along those lines."

Canales said there's not a magic number of rookies vs. vets as they're creating a greater whole, but he's clearly not bashful about giving young players their first chances. Among last year's draft class, four enter the offseason as de facto starters, with wide receiver Xavier Legette and tight end Ja'Tavion Sanders on offense and linebacker Trevin Wallace and nickel corner Chau Smith-Wade getting valuable time last year.

"I don't know that answer; I just know that I am for playing rookies right away," Canales said. "I want them to. The only way to get that experience is to be out there, is to live it, is to feel that, feel the accountability from their teammates, and have them elevate their urgency in an appropriate way so that they can see how important this is. These opportunities are for everybody, not just for themselves, so I don't know what that number is, but I do know that the sooner they play, the sooner they can find good football and find a style that fits them within our team."

And after a year on the job and seeing the offense develop as the defense sagged, Morgan and Canales have a clearer idea of what needs to be done.

Both talked about their shared vision for the future of the team, although the time spent during a 5-12 season has allowed them to gather a different perspective on what's already on hand and what needs to be done.

"I feel different," Canales said. "I feel the time spent with Dan, with Brandt, I feel the time spent with this team. I think coming in last year, it's off of a lot of film study, you know, just playing against the coaching against the Panthers and then watching all those games and kind of having a vision for what could potentially help us challenge our roster and take the next steps forward.

"But this year, really seeing guys day in and day out, really getting to know the personalities and seeing what fits. Certainly from a football standpoint, football character, but then also our locker room and who these guys are and what they stand for, so that really kind of helps sharpen my focus a little bit as I come in here."

The Panthers will be able to add to their stockpile of young players in the draft, as they currently have nine picks and eight in the first five rounds.

But they also need to create some stability on defense, and Morgan's words in Indianapolis point to early investments on defense. They clearly need another big body up front to pair with Derrick Brown after last year's successful addition of A'Shawn Robinson. But they need safeties, plural, because there's only one on the roster at the moment (undrafted rookie Demani Richardson).

Coupled with the evergreen need of every team in the league for more pass-rushers, the blueprint seems clear. There are still needs on offense, they could use centers, more options at receiver and tight end, and running backs as well. Over the course of the next month, a lot of those holes will be filled so they can go into the draft without glaring needs.

And as Morgan, Canales, and Tilis enter their second full season together, they're zeroing in on the best ways to fill the needs and build this sustainably.

"I feel so much more clarity about where we need to go, what we need to address, and how we can utilize different players because of spending that time together," Canales said. "It's going to be built around toughness. It's going to be built around playing great defense in the run game, and we know we have a lot of things to address from a defensive standpoint to take those strides. We know what we were missing.

"Let's make sure we have those pieces so that we can be an attacking style of defense and make it really challenging on opposing offenses. Let's make sure we can continue to run the ball, and let's try to find a way to get some explosives going on from an offensive standpoint and a special team standpoint."

Having that kind of holistic approach requires intentional effort, as Canales could easily slip into play-caller mode and only think about offensive needs. He said last week he'd explicitly spend time studying cornerbacks or visit with defensive line coach Todd Wash to make sure he has a perspective on both sides of the ball.

"I have to make sure I switch up who I'm watching and in what order," he said. "I'll make sure I watch all the corners, then I can flip over to some receivers, but make sure I get back to watching the defensive line so that my brain doesn't just start going down that rabbit hole of how good can I make my offense? This is a team we have to build here, you know, and we have to be ready to get the best available player whether that's at sitting at No. 8 right there. We're gonna get a fantastic player, and based on the amount of really good players we see in this class, it's like, who is that going to be? I have to make sure that I have a vision for how to help our defense, how to help our offense take the next step.

"Humbly, it's a learning process for me, and it's like popping into Todd Wash's office and going, 'Hey, here's how I saw these two guys. Tell me what I'm missing, or did I see this right?' He's like, yeah, that fits in with what we're doing there. This guy right here can talk specifically about the traits and the things that he looks for when he's watching film, and that's what's so fun about being the head coach. I get to learn from these guys and the expertise that they have."

And pver the next few weeks, they begin putting that perspective into practice.