CHARLOTTE — The comments started coming in as soon as the Panthers started winning a few games.

After beating the Saints and Giants, the close losses to perennial playoff teams like the Chiefs, Bucs, and Eagles had people of two minds.

Fans liked being better at football. But some of them are already worrying about next year's draft.

But just as looking back at the end of the 2002 season offers some parallels to what the current Panthers team can do, what followed the next April also offers a lesson.

The Panthers lost some draft position by winning four of their last five games in 2002, but they gained something more. And the way the 2003 NFL Draft turned out, landing a Hall of Honor tackle like Jordan Gross, they were no worse for it.

"This game's only fun when you win," former Panthers coach John Fox said. "And those wins meant a lot more to that team than draft order would have."

Good luck convincing some fans of that.

Moments after the Chiefs game, the Bucs game, and the Eagles game, some were already worrying that the Panthers might set themselves back somehow by playing well. (Based on current results, the Panthers sit fourth overall for the 2025 draft)

I am absolutely fine with the team just barely losing. This isn't the time for a Matt Rhule culture-building win. This is the time to get the best positioning in the draft while at the same time making strides on the field, which they're doing. — @heroicone.bsky.social

But history shows us it's not always that simple.

After 12 weeks of the 2002 season, the Panthers were 3-8, in a knot with three other teams with the same record. Only the Bengals (1-10) were worse. But after winning four of their final five games, the Panthers finished at 7-9, dropping to ninth in the draft order.

2003 NFL Draft

Looking back at the 2003 draft, you realize slipping five or six spots didn't matter at all.

Quarterback Carson Palmer went first overall to the Bengals, as he was going to regardless of who was picking first. The receivers went next, with Detroit taking Charles Rogers second and Houston taking Andre Johnson third.

Now, any team would be interested in a future Hall of Fame wide receiver like Johnson (though they had Steve Smith and Muhsin Muhammad on the roster at that time and had just signed Ricky Proehl in free agency). And the Panthers obviously liked Johnson, though it wasn't a need.

But between the fourth pick and where they ended up taking Utah offensive tackle Jordan Gross, there was nothing they'd have rather done.

Kentucky defensive tackle Dewayne Robertson went fourth overall to the Jets. Kansas State cornerback Terence Newman went fifth to Dallas. Georgia defensive tackle Johnathan Sullivan went sixth to the Saints.

That's where the draft got weird. Minnesota was supposed to pick seventh but didn't get their pick in on time. So Jacksonville ran to the stage to take Marshall quarterback Byron Leftwich, and former Panthers equipment man Jackie Miles wasn't far behind with a card bearing Gross's name.

And looking back, that was obviously the right call.

The Panthers weren't in the market for interior defensive linemen, not with a solid core of Kris Jenkins, Brentson Buckner, and Shane Burton on hand already. And while cornerbacks are always in demand (and college scouting director Tony Softli made many trips to Manhattan, Kan. to see Newman and liked him), that wasn't their biggest need.

The Panthers felt like they could get a few more years out of veteran left tackle Todd Steussie, but former second-round pick Chris Terry had run his course here and was released in November of 2002, leaving journeyman Melvin Tuten to start down the stretch. Clearly, they needed someone for the present and the future.

As interesting as Leftwich was — and he had a solid enough career — the Panthers had just signed quarterback Jake Delhomme in free agency. Leftwich was never really part of the conversation, according to the people who were having the conversations.

All Gross did was play 167 games of high-level tackle for the team for a generation, going to three Pro Bowls along the way and keeping them from having to worry about the position for a long time.

"I loved Jordan," Fox said. "What Jordan was was a 10-year starter. I mean, he ain't going to be in the Hall of Fame, but he's in the Ring of Honor, and he was dependable, and we never had to mess around with a left tackle again, even through Ron Rivera's first few years.

"That's all you can ask for in that spot."

Current Panthers general manager Dan Morgan was there when it happened and played alongside Gross in the Super Bowl the following year.

So he knows that it worked out as well as it could have for that team and that the winning they experienced that December was more valuable than picking fourth or fifth in the draft would have been.

"I'm a firm believer that what's meant to be is meant to be," Morgan said. "So if we win games, that's great because that's the ultimate goal. But if we don't, we don't then, and wherever we draft, we're going to do the work, and we're going to go get a good player. So, I'm not worried about it either way.

"I'd much rather win games and go home and be happy."