Dan Morgan: Needs on defense still on their minds, with eight more picks

Apr 24, 2025 at 11:27 PM

Darin Gantt

CHARLOTTE — Panthers general manager Dan Morgan is well aware of the needs on the other side of the ball.

And he's also aware that he has eight more picks this weekend.

When the Panthers used their first-round pick, No. 8 overall, on Arizona wideout Tetairoa McMillan, it meant they didn't use it to fill those still-acute defensive needs.

"It's still a need, and you know we have eight more picks," Morgan said. "We wanted to add the best player, we wanted to follow the board, follow our board of who we thought was going to help us the most up there.

"Again, we got our guy, and we're excited about it."

Many expected their guy to be someone who played on the other side of the ball, and there were plenty of reasons for that.

After finishing last in the league in most of the defensive categories and setting a new league record for points allowed, they have systematically worked to bring in new faces throughout the offseason.

They agreed to deals with linemen Tershawn Wharton and Bobby Brown III, outside linebacker Patrick Jones II and safety Tre'von Moehrig on the first day of free agency, and the work is expected to continue throughout the weekend. The need up front and for pass-rushers remains, after they managed just 32 sacks last year, tied for third-fewest in the league.

But McMillan and his big-play ability was enough to make them add a second straight receiver in the first round after Xavier Legette last year, and head coach Dave Canales said it was a matter of following the whole board rather than focusing on particular needs.

"We're trying to do the best thing for the Panthers, and that's what our commitment is," Canales said. "If we can stay true to our evaluation process and follow the board, be disciplined about that over time, we'll select the players that we have conviction on and all on board with to make those choices.

"I think the consistency of the players that we're looking for is what we're after, and I think that it's been said in different ways, if you start to chase needs and you're not just being true to your process and true to true to the players that come to you and the ones you have belief in, I think that it sometimes you can get yourself a little bit out of whack and not in alignment for what we're trying to do."

"Yeah, and we did attack our defensive needs through free agency," Morgan added. "And again, we have eight picks left, and our board has a lot of defensive guys on there as well. So, it's definitely not something that we're going to neglect."

The Panthers pick next at No. 57 overall — unless they make another move tomorrow — and their track record as a front office suggests that's a possibility.

Here's a look at the Panthers' 2025 picks as it stands now: