CHARLOTTE — It may be Dan Morgan's first season as general manager for the Carolina Panthers, but he attacked the trade market with the same ferocity that made him a household name as a linebacker.
A week ahead of the deadline, Morgan traded receiver Diontae Johnson to the Baltimore Ravens. Then on Tuesday of this week, as the window closed on the trade deadline, Morgan and crew traded second year receiver Jonathan Mingo to the Dallas Cowboys. The reason for each respective trade ended up being vastly different, but both provided the Panthers with draft capital with which to build in the future. They have nine picks next year, but eight of them in the first five rounds. (You can see the full list here.)
For Johnson and a sixth-round pick, the club received a Ravens 2025 fifth rounder in return. That trade was less about compensation—although still a vital part of the deal—and more about a better start for both player and team.
"Obviously I'll keep those conversations private that myself, coach Canales and Brandt (Tilis) had," Morgan said. "But we felt at the end of the day that it was best for the team and best for Diontae that we both part ways and get the compensation there that we got. So, at the end of the day, I just thought it was best for both sides to do that.
"He wanted a change of scenery, and we wanted to do things on our end as well. I think at the end of the day it's just best for both sides to part ways."
For Mingo and one of the Panthers' seventh round picks, the Cowboys sent their 2025 fourth-round selection. The capital was crucial there, Morgan explained, as the Cowboys looked to fold a young receiver into their offense and the Panthers looked to build their draft stock.
"Great guy, great player, still developing player," Morgan said of Mingo. "I thought it was a good deal between us and Dallas. They get a young player that they can grow and develop, and we get a draft pick that we're happy with. So, I think it was a win-win for both sides."
The Panthers could afford to part with Mingo thanks in part to the advent of rookie pass catchers Xavier Legette, Jalen Coker and tight end Ja'Tavion Sanders. The trio collectively has 711 yards and five touchdowns (Legette owns four of those scores).
"I just think it, you know, it has to do a little bit with just like building too," Morgan explained. "I think we're trying to build the roster the right way and that's through the draft and you know, we're definitely excited about a lot of our young guys. We're excited about a lot of guys on the roster in general. So, I like the direction that we're headed and we just got to keep building and growing this thing."
There was plenty of other news to emerge from Morgan's 12 minutes with the media today. Here is the rest of what he covered.
Q: Did you get calls on Bryce Young? And what did you tell teams?
Morgan: "Teams call and they poke around and not just about any specific players, it's just players on your roster and they're real general conversations and I'll kind of leave those conversations for another day."
Q: We have not really heard Dave commit publicly to Bryce as the future quarterback. Do you think he can still be the franchise quarterback here?
Morgan: "Yeah, I think every week, you know, we're assessing Bryce. We're just seeing, taking it day by day, really just seeing him grow, seeing him develop, be under coach and work with him, learn under Andy. I think we do see him growing every day. We're excited to work with him and keep working with him in the future. At the end of the day, we'll have those conversations once the season ends and, we'll see where we're at.
Q: At this point do you have a sense with Bryce specifically what is it that you want to see more of?
Morgan: "Yeah, just continually improve and it's not just Bryce, it's everybody on our roster. We're evaluating everybody every single day, not just on game day. Not only how they carry themselves on the field, but off the field as well. So, it's just one of those things where we're evaluating everything and at the end of the day we'll get together at the end of the season and we'll see where we're at."
Q: Is it safe to say there was no way you were going to trade Bryce?
Morgan: "We never got into any discussions. I never opened that door. Didn't want to trade Bryce, still don't and committed to working with him and helping him grow and helping him develop."
Q: Were you guys listening for anything on Adam Thielen, how much interest was there? And now that he's staying, how does he help the younger guys?
Morgan: "Adam's a guy that absolutely want here in the receiver room with the young guys, helping them develop and then on top of that, he's a great player. So, we're excited to get him back out there at some point. When that'll be I'm not sure, but we're definitely excited to have Adam around and hopefully he's here for years to come."
Q: You talk about building the roster the right way. How encouraging has it been to see the draft picks, especially some of the deeper draft picks, perform well so far?
Morgan: "It's been fun obviously watching those young guys grow and develop and, you know, in terms of having those guys out on the field, you see them improving every single week, every single day out here. The coaches are doing a great job helping those guys develop and grow and they still have a ways to go, but we're definitely excited the direction that it's headed."
Q: In building that roster, how important is it to hit on some Day three guys, some undrafted guys that it looks like you might have?
Morgan: "The goal every draft is to hit on all the prospects. It doesn't matter what round it is; you hope to pinpoint players that fit your team, schematically and also fit your culture and we're going to continue to do that. We're going to continue to pinpoint guys and work our butts off to kind of build this roster and make it one of the best in the NFL."
Q: I know you said you didn't seriously consider trade offers for Bryce. Why not commit to him long term?
Morgan: "Those are obviously discussions between Dave and myself and Brandt, just kind of talking through the direction that we want to go and we're looking for him to grow and develop every week, get better every single week and, and Dave has a plan for him. Dave has a plan for all the guys on this roster. So, he's doing a really good job with him and Bryce is bought in and he's committed to being the best that he can be. So, we'll see where it goes."
Q: Talking about Miles Sanders, obviously with Jonathon Brooks getting healthy, that's going to make the running back room a little bit more competitive. What's the future for (Miles)?
Morgan: "I mean, listen, in this league it's a long season, and you need a lot of backs. Guys get hurt; guys get injured. I think we're lucky in that sense that we have four really good backs, if you include Raheem Blackshear, that we're really excited about and we're still excited about Miles."
Q: Did you take any calls about Miles?
Morgan: "I'm going to leave those conversations between me and Miles, but we're happy to have Miles here."
Q: Midway through the season, how would you evaluate Dave Canales' first season as a head coach?
Morgan: "He's done a really good job, but, you know, I think like all of us, we're growing every single day, we're growing together every single day. We're growing as a team. We're growing as a building and trying to shape that culture the way that we want to get it here and, you know, things are going every single day, things are improving every single day. So, not just excited about Coach Canales, but just the future of the franchise."
Q: How do you feel about the draft capital you have now after the last week or so and would you like to possibly add any more?
Morgan: "I'd love to have as many picks as possible. Obviously, you know, to get a fourth rounder yesterday, really happy about that and, you know, to have as many picks as we do, especially as early as we do, it's exciting. But we got to put the work in, we got to make sure that we pinpoint the right players and draft those players."
Q: Your first trade deadline as a GM; how would you see it went operationally for your guys and what were some of those conversations like amongst Dave and Brandt as you guys tried to construct this roster?
Morgan: "Yeah, it's good. I think it's really good communication, not just between us three but, you know, just throughout the building. I think everybody's on the same page about what we want, the direction that we want to go. And again, we're excited about that direction and feel like we're taking steps to get better every single day."
Q: You have a couple of guys that are on expiring contracts that are playing well. Would you consider doing anything sooner than later with Chuba Hubbard and Jaycee Horn?
Morgan: "Yeah, obviously, you know, we have guys that are coming up and me and Brandt, we sit together every single day and talk about the roster, and we have a plan. Not going to divulge that plan right now, but we're definitely working towards some stuff right now that we're excited about."
Q: Where there any calls on Jaycee?
Morgan: "Yeah, people call and I'll politely tell them he's not available, so he's ours."
Q: If you guys continue to lose, would you—and I know Dave makes football decisions, but you weigh in—would you kind of lean on him to start looking at some younger guys and turn it into a bit of a development thing with Bryce and others?
Morgan: "I think that's going to be up to Dave. I'm going to leave that up to Coach Canales. He knows what he's doing. He has a plan as well. We talk every day. So, yeah, I'll leave it to him."
Q: If you end up having a Top 5 pick, would you consider a quarterback?
Morgan: "I mean, I'll consider everything. I'm going to have an open mind and again, I'm going to— I talk about it all the time and talk about it with the guys in the building—we're going to draft really good football players. So whatever position that is, I don't know,, but we're going to draft really good football players that we think are going to help our team moving forward."
Q: The team has struggled on the defensive side of the ball. Where do you see the greatest areas of growth there?
Morgan: "I think as a team, you know, I think obviously we're not stopping the run as well as we would like to; giving up a lot of yards there. So, obviously there's room for improvement, not just with the run defense, but throughout the whole roster and again, we're just going to continue on building this thing, be patient and just bring the right type of guys in here."
Q: When you talk about hitting on guys like Jalen Coker and Demani Richardson, what did scouts see in them that is coming to fruition now?
Morgan: "I think our scouts, I think they do a really good job of being thorough and really getting to know these guys throughout the fall. So a lot of credit to the scouts for the hard work that they put in going to the schools during the fall and really getting to know these guys. So, to see some of these undrafted guys playing the way that they're playing, it's definitely exciting and it's a lot of credit that is due to them."
Q: A guy you liked, Caleb Farley, what did you see in him that made you want to give him a chance?
Morgan: "So we worked him out and him moving around, out on the field, it was really impressive. You see why he was drafted in the first round, just like the athleticism that he shows, the way he can flip his hips, change the direction, the way he transitions, the way he can run, was really impressive. And then the guy too, just kind of talking to the guy, like, he's a really good guy that's passionate about football. He's had a lot of bad luck and I hope he's happy here and he seems like he's happy here and having fun. And he's another guy that I think is getting better week after week and that we're excited about moving forward."
Q: Have you had conversations with Derrick or Shaq?
Morgan: "Oh, yeah. I stay in constant communication with Derrick and Shaq and really all the guys on the roster. We kind of want atmosphere around here to be a family atmosphere. So, they know they can call me. I call them. But, yeah, I talked to them. They're doing great. They're in good spirits and I think they're both hoping to come back and help us out a lot next year."
Q: What's your trick to falling asleep on a plane?
Morgan: "I don't know if I'm going to be able to. I'm not, I'm usually like working on the plane. I have a hard time going to sleep on a plane so I might stay up the whole time and might be sleeping in the box during the game."
