Welcome to the NFL offseason, where receivers get paid lots of money (just ask Justin Jefferson, A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith, Amon-Ra St. Brown, Jaylen Waddle and Nico Collins), the NFL continues to push for an 18-game season, the league and NFLPA discuss ways to ruin the offseason calendar and teams continue to go through their OTAs and mandatory minicamps.
So we asked our MMQB staff of NFL experts to answer a series of eight questions. Today, they’re going to weigh in on the general managers who have had the biggest impact this offseason.
Let’s get to their answers as we get closer to the NFL taking a break before July training camps.
Matt Verderame: Dan Morgan, Carolina Panthers
Morgan was aggressive in free agency, improving the roster around his young quarterback. / Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports
Morgan is saddled with the responsibility of trying to resurrect a franchise which went a league-worst 2–15 last season. He’s also charged with trying to placate owner David Tepper.
Yet this offseason seemed like a positive step for the Panthers due to Morgan’s aggressiveness in free agency. Carolina didn’t have its first-round pick, but still added a host of talent including edge rushers D.J. Wonnum and Jadeveon Clowney, linebacker Josey Jewell, receiver Diontae Johnson, guards Robert Hunt and Damien Lewis, corner Dane Jackson and defensive tackle A’Shawn Robinson among others.
If second-year quarterback Bryce Young doesn’t improve, none of Morgan’s moves are going to amount to much. But if Young can take a big step under new coach Dave Canales, the Panthers are positioned to be a much tougher out.
Gilberto Manzano: Adam Peters, Washington Commanders
Peters hired Quinn, drafted Daniels and quickly rebuilt the team's roster this offseason by signing several free agents. / Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
It has to be Peters for quickly transforming one of the worst rosters in the NFL into one that could compete for the postseason in 2024.
Obviously, it helped that Peters had the No. 2 pick to draft quarterback Jayden Daniels and spark the rebuild in Washington. But Peters managed to form a compelling defense for new coach Dan Quinn. Also, hiring a proven coach such as Quinn was a major get for Peters and a franchise that probably needed an experienced head coach for this new era.
Peters, the former San Francisco 49ers front office executive, spent plenty of money in free agency, but did it wisely to maintain cap space flexibility for the future. He bet on underrated players such as edge rusher Dorance Armstrong and linebacker Frankie Luvu, and he also retooled the offensive line for Daniels.
Conor Orr: Joe Hortiz, Los Angeles Chargers
It used to be that Baltimore Ravens personnel folks didn’t leave the house, even after Eric DeCosta succeeded the great Ozzie Newsome. However, we’ve seen recent success stories such as Joe Douglas in New York, who was a Baltimore and Philadelphia Eagles disciple, nailing both Sauce Gardner and Garrett Wilson in one draft. Now we have Hortiz, who has been the team’s personnel director since 2019. This is as strong an ideological marriage as any coach and GM tandem I’ve seen this offseason and the Chargers already have a roster that will be fun to play around with and build. Hortiz’s job, to toughen up the place around Justin Herbert, won’t be easy.
Albert Breer: Hortiz
The reason I’m going with Hortiz is something I remember saying to his old boss, DeCosta, about how the Ravens operate—you could explain most of their moves to an 8-year-old. It’s a compliment. It means they operate with a certain level of logic, and Hortiz, and Jim Harbaugh, have done that this offseason.
Where they’ve invested in talent tells that story. Coming into the offseason, they had a messy cap situation with four veteran players—Keenan Allen, Mike Williams, Joey Bosa and Khalil Mack—needing to be dealt with contractually. So what did they do? They leaned into Harbaugh’s line-heavy ethos, reworking the deals for Bosa and Mack, trading Allen and releasing Williams.
From there, they signed two warhorse tailbacks, in J.K. Dobbins and Gus Edwards, who’d need no adaptation to the Harbaugh style of play (having been in it in Baltimore), then doubled down in the draft, selecting Notre Dame tackle Joe Alt over replacing Williams and Allen with a Malik Nabers or Rome Odunze. Then, they turned around and took Ladd McConkey in the second round to address a need at receiver.
Easy to explain, right? So logical, a kid would get it.
Welcome to the NFL offseason, where receivers get paid lots of money (just ask Justin Jefferson, A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith, Amon-Ra St. Brown, Jaylen Waddle and Nico Collins), the NFL continues to push for an 18-game season, the league and NFLPA discuss ways to ruin the offseason calendar and teams continue to go through their OTAs and mandatory minicamps.
So we asked our MMQB staff of NFL experts to answer a series of eight questions. Today, they’re going to weigh in on the offseason’s best coaching move.
Let’s get to their answers as we get closer to the NFL taking a break before July training camps.
Matt Verderame: Los Angeles Chargers hiring Jim Harbaugh
Harbaugh isn’t the type to come into a situation, sit back and assess. Instead, he’s going to quickly turn the culture around, something desperately needed in Los Angeles after the Brandon Staley era.
While the Chargers are somewhat low on talent after moving several veteran players including receivers Keenan Allen and Mike Williams, Harbaugh’s influence will be obvious. Los Angeles might not be a contender in 2024, but it won’t give away games as it has in the past, instead forcing opponents to win the game and not simply avoid losing it.
The big question for the Chargers is how long it will take to get a quality roster around Harbaugh and quarterback Justin Herbert. Once that happens, they should compete in the AFC West with the Kansas City Chiefs.
Gilberto Manzano: CarolinaPanthers hiring Dave Canales, retaining Ejiro Evero
Canales stays in the NFC South as coach of the Panthers after having the offensive coordinator job with the Buccaneers. / Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports
Harbaugh is probably the right answer, but I can make a compelling case for the two-for-one coaching special the Carolina Panthers pulled off in the offseason.
Panthers owner David Tepper finally got something right after he hired Dave Canales as head coach and retained Ejiro Evero as defensive coordinator. Evero could have easily left after the dysfunctional season in Carolina, but Canales and Tepper convinced him to stay after the defensive guru didn’t land a head-coaching opportunity. (He probably will in the near future.) Continuity should help a Panthers’ defense needing plenty of help outside of stud defensive tackle Derrick Brown.
The arrival of Canales should put Bryce Young on the right track after a rocky rookie season, too. He helped Geno Smith and Baker Mayfield reignite their careers during coaching stops with the Seattle Seahawks and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
If the Panthers’ offensive line holds up, Young and new weapons Xavier Legette and Diontae Johnson could do wonders in Canales’s offensive scheme.
Conor Orr: Harbaugh
I agree with Matt. I think Harbaugh was the move of the offseason because it offers the highest degree of potential success with the largest sample size of prior success and it also signified that the Spanos family was finally willing to spend additional funding on the kind of moves that could separate the Chargers from the rest of the pack.
We can also like different hires for different reasons, right? I think the Dan Quinn hire was smart because the Washington Commanders needed a calming presence after finally fumigating the building of all things Dan Snyder. I thought the organization’s anonymous bashing of Ben Johnson when Johnson decided he did not want to pursue the opportunity was reprehensible.
I thought the Mike Macdonald hire was smart, too, because he gives Seattle the best chance out of any of the available coaches to match wits with Sean McVay and Kyle Shanahan. Does that mean he will? No. That doesn’t mean it’s not worth a shot.
I thought the Canales hire was also good because it was the best option at the moment for Bryce Young.
Albert Breer: Harbaugh
Morris is getting a second chance at being an NFL head coach. / Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports
I’m with Matt and Conor, too. This can’t not be Harbaugh. And my reasoning goes beyond the wins and losses, though the fact that he’s got the fifth-best winning percentage of all-time (behind Guy Chamberlin, John Madden, George Allen and Vince Lombardi) doesn’t hurt.
To me, it’s that he’s got this rare thing where his brand of football, the identity of his teams, has traveled everywhere with him. From Stanford to San Francisco to Michigan, his teams featured powerful offensive lines, dominant run games, efficient quarterbacks, tough skill guys, and smart, versatile defenses that are, similar to the offenses, particularly great up front. I’m betting on it happening again, and all of it has a chance to supercharge Justin Herbert as a quarterback.
But, twist my arm, and make me go somewhere else with this one, and I’d take Raheem Morris with the Atlanta Falcons or Brian Callahan with the Tennessee Titans—Morris because coaches I respect most believe his second shot (after 12 seasons to learn from his mistakes) will be spectacular, and Callahan because he’s so perfectly suited for today’s NFL. Also, those two happen to be among the smartest coaches I’ve dealt with over 19 seasons covering the league.
The NHL's Florida Panthers and NFL's Carolina Panthers came into existence around the same time—the teams began play in 1993 and 1995, respectively—but they sit at opposite ends of the success spectrum in 2024.
The hockey Panthers, after Saturday’s Game 1 victory, are three wins away from their first Stanley Cup title. The football Panthers are licking their wounds after a 2–15 season, their worst since going 1–15 in 2001.
However, differences in fortunes have never stopped some sports fans from mistaking the two teams for each other. It happened again Saturday in Los Angeles, when KABC-TV put up a graphic depicting the Edmonton Oilers and Carolina Panthers meeting in the Stanley Cup finals.
Credit to the anchor here for proceeding as if nothing was amiss—gamely avoiding the urge to throw whoever handled the graphic under the bus.
Interestingly, the Oilers' last trip to the Stanley Cup finals saw them meet the Carolina Hurricanes, to whom they lost the 2006 championship series four games to three.
We're just months away from the start of the NFL season and before we know it, we'll be betting on games and spending our Sundays watching Red Zone.
Despite the season still being a few months away, sportsbooks have already released all of the futures odds you can think of for the 2024 campaign. One of the betting markets that is already available is the odds to win the NFC.
The San Francisco 49ers were the best team in the conference from the opening week all the way until the Super Bowl, but the upstart Detroit Lions almost managed to pull off the upset in the NFC Championship. Will those two teams meet in the NFC Championship next season?
Let's find out what the oddsmakers think and take a look at the odds to win the NFC for all 16 teams.
The San Francisco 49ers are understandably once again the betting favorites to win the NFC. There's no reason to doubt them after what they've done the past two seasons and have only made moves that have improved their roster for 2024. There's a strong they'll be the No. 1 seed in the conference again in 2024.
Despite the two powerhouse teams in the NFC East, the Detroit Lions are second on the odds list to win the NFC and advance to the Super Bowl for the first time in franchise history. Can they finally do it? Did they improve their defense enough to hang with the 49ers?
The Eagles won the NFC two seasons ago but imploded in the second half of the season last year. Eagles fans are anxiously awaiting the start of the season to see which version of Philadelphia will show up in 2024. Oddsmakers seem to still have faith in them.
Not only is the NFC East a toss-up between these two teams, but the Eagles and Dallas Cowboys have the same odds to win the NFC at +700. Of course, the Cowboys have to learn how to win in the playoffs if they want to pull it off.
The youngest team in the NFL got hot in the second half of the 2024 season and went on to upset the Cowboys in the wild card round of the playoffs. Can they take a step forward in this year's campaign?
The Falcons were seemingly a quarterback away from being a playoff team last year. Now that they have Kirk Cousins, they're amongst the top options to win the NFC, albeit still a step below the top dogs in the conference.
No rookie quarterback has ever started in a Super Bowl. The closest was Brock Purdy with the 49ers two years ago, but he was injured in the NFC Championship and the Eagles went on to win. Can Caleb Williams achieve the feat in his first year as the Bears quarterback?
The Los Angeles Rams will once again be a dark horse in the NFC but with the passing attack they have, they can beat anyone on any given Sunday.
Don't expect much from the Seattle Seahawks in their first year in the post-Pete Carroll era.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers won the NFC South last year. Can they run it back with Baker Mayfield as their quarterback once again? Do they have enough talent to compete with the top teams in the conference? Oddsmakers aren't so sure about that.
The Minnesota Vikings won't be NFC contenders in 2024.
While they look decent on paper, the Saints aren't in a position to make a run in the conference in 2024.
If Kyler Murray can play at an MVP level and their defense can step up in a big way, the Arizona Cardinals could be an interesting team to watch this season.
The Jayden Daniels era begins in the nation's capital.
It's a tough year to be a Giants fan. That's all there really is to say.
If Bryce Young can look like a competent quarterback in 2024, that's about as good of a win as the Panthers will get this season.
If you or someone you know has a gambling problem and wants help, call 1-800-GAMBLER.
Odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.
The NFL offseason continues on but with teams gearing up for next season we have odds for who will make the postseason.
One of the most hotly contested divisions in the 2024 season is the NFC East, which features the Philadelphia Eagles and Dallas Cowboys.
The Eagles made a splash in free agency by adding running back Saquon Barkley as well as hiring former Cowboys offensive coordinator Kellen Moore. Can the Eagles hold off the Cowboys in hopes of getting back on top of the division and make the postseason?
There will be plenty of heated races in the postseason in addition to the NFC East one mentioned above, including a crowded group in the AFC East and AFC North.
Below you will find the odds for each team to make the postseason in 2024.
There are a ton of quality teams heading into the season with the postseason in its sights.
Look at the AFC East, who have three teams projected to make the postseason in terms of implied probability greater than 50%. The Dolphins have an implied probability of 57.38%, the Bills are 62.69% and the Jets are slightly ahead, listed at 62.96%.
Elsewhere, the AFC North has three teams with heavy odds to contend for the postseason, with its longest shot, the Steelers at only +190 (34.48%). The Ravens (72.60%), Bengals (70.15%) and Browns (42.37%) all have more than a puncher's chance to make the postseason.
The NFC East race is for the division, but both are expected to make the postseason in a much weaker conference, will the two be able to hold up? The Eagles and Cowboys each have mandates to win and better hope to at least make the postseason in order to keep the status quo.
Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.
If you or someone you know has a gambling problem and wants help, call 1-800-GAMBLER.
The NFL offseason continues on, but that doesn't have to stop us from keeping an eye on the NFL futures market!
The top of the Super Bowl oddsboard is dictated by the two teams that made it to the big game last season with the San Francisco 49ers slightly favored over the Kansas City Chiefs to win Super Bowl 59.
Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs are once again viewed as a true contender to win the Super Bowl for a third straight year with the team set to return a majority of its core, but it's the 49ers who have the edge at the top of the oddsboard.
It's worth noting that the Niners are in the far easier conference relative to the AFC, and that's indicated in the odds. After the two aforementioned teams, the AFC has seven of the 12 other teams that have shorter than 25-1 odds.
Moreso, three of the next four teams are in the AFC with the Ravens, Bengals and Bills all viewed as legitimate threats to win the Super Bowl this season.
With training camp still a few months away, it's worth keeping an eye on more movement in the Super Bowl odds ahead of the 2024 season.
Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.
If you or someone you know has a gambling problem and wants help, call 1-800-GAMBLER.
Last weekend, new coach Dave Canales, GM Dan Morgan and the Panthers’ staff made the short trip to the Charlotte Motor Speedway for the Coca-Cola 600, getting a look behind the scenes of the race with the Hendrick Motorsports team.
Right after the draft, much of the same group went to the Kenny Chesney concert at the stadium as well. Before that, there was a Topgolf outing. Right after everyone was hired, they had a staff dinner at Steak 48 in the suburbs. And they even had one of these nights, at the Triple A Charlotte Knights game, when Canales couldn’t make it—he happened to be tied up with family in Tampa.
All of this, of course, is intentional, and much more than a series of meet-and-greets.
“It’s really important,” Canales said over the phone Thursday. “One of the things that I’ve learned along the way is, you got to have high ground for hard days. I know that hard days will come in the season, just because of the nature of the business and the work that’s required. If we spend time together, we’re able to weather those storms together. We’re able to talk to each other. We’ve got history with each other beyond just being in the office.
“Those things are really important—the relationship part comes first.”
So the first thing has come first, and the truth is Canales would probably approach things like this regardless of where he landed his first head coaching gig. It just so happens that his team needs what he brings more than just about any of the other 31 teams would have.
Consider being a Panthers player over the past few years. You’re now, if you include the interims, on your fifth head coach in less than two years. You watched your franchise trade away arguably its three best players: Christian McCaffrey, DJ Moore and Brian Burns. The Panthers have changed out offensive coordinators like swing tackles over the last half decade. The front office has been restructured. The owner’s been colorful, to put it kindly.
No matter how you slice it, these guys have been through a lot.
And, now, here comes Canales, 43 years old and ready to take over the NFL’s worst team, and force feed it positivity by the mouthful. You don’t do that, of course, by looking back at the 2–15 record, or the six-year playoff drought that encapsulates Tepper’s stewardship of the franchise. Canales is doing it with his eyes fixed forward, in a place that badly needs to put the past behind it.
Welcome in to our first column of June, with vacation for everyone right around the corner. In this week’s takeaways, we’ll give you a look at …
• The rush of receiver deals getting done before Justin Jefferson gets his.
• How the Rams are valuing every minute of training camp.
• Why the NFLPA’s proposed changes are so uniformly despised among coaches and scouts.
But we’re starting at the bottom, with a Panthers team clawing to climb out of that hole with a coach who is doing all he can to turn the page for the franchise.
When Panthers GM Dan Morgan started as a scout, as a Seahawks intern in the summer of 2010, Canales had been working there as a quality-control coach for less than five months. The two were green and learning—Morgan fresh off his playing career and Canales having come with Pete Carroll from USC, where he served as a strength coach.
To say their current circumstances were a long way off would be like saying California is a long drive from New York.
“I’d be lying if I said I envisioned this,” Morgan says. “It wasn’t because I didn’t think he could ever be a head coach. I think the time that I was out in Seattle, we were both so young and so green at our jobs that you never think about that. I was a pro scout that was trying to become the assistant pro director. He was the quality-control coach that was trying to be a receiver coach. I think that’s the cool part about it.
“You never know how things will work out. It just so happened that the stars aligned.”
With the benefit of hindsight, both guys can see why.
Working with Carroll and GM John Schneider gave the young coach and scout some perspective on a different way winning in the NFL could happen. Morgan admired how Carroll could build a cohesive program with an authentic positivity that put a shine on a demanding, competitive environment. And even then, with Canales just down the hall from him, Morgan started to see some Carroll traits in Canales.
“He’s like a young Pete in a lot of ways,” continues Morgan. “He’s enthusiastic every single day about his job and makes everyone around him better just because of the energy that he brings and his love for football. It’s really contagious and really similar to how Pete was.”
Accordingly, seeing Carroll succeed weaponized the positivity that Canales always had inside of him. So instead of trying to carry himself the way others expect a football coach to, he got to see that being himself would be enough.
“It validates people like us,” Canales says of watching Carroll. “We’re just a certain type of way. A lot of people have different dispositions, and a lot of them have been successful and it works for them. I think it’s just about being really who you are. I’m just genuinely sunny and happy to be here. I love just connecting with people. Pete has a lot of those qualities. For me, it was just freeing. It’s freeing to know that this model works, too.
“You don’t have to try to be a certain way just because football may say this should be a really gruff type of person and deliver harsh words and all those things and it’s like, Hey, I know that works for people. I’m not doubting that at all. It’s just … that hasn’t worked for me.”
Perhaps his lack of sharp elbows slowed his rise through the ranks—he stuck in Seattle for 13 seasons, going from QC to assistant quarterbacks coach in 2013 to receivers coach in ’15 to quarterbacks coach in ’18 and pass-game coordinator in ’20. He finally got his shot to call his own offense in Tampa, but along the way his approach left its mark.
And in particular, his positive approach worked with quarterbacking resurrections he helped guide, first with Geno Smith in Seattle, then Baker Mayfield in Tampa, to give those franchises soft landings in detaching from the Russell Wilson and Tom Brady eras.
“What I love is to be a part of a great story,” he says. “Geno Smith’s story, I just remember Geno talking. We were together for a couple years before he got his opportunity. I remember Geno having it like he was in a place of frustration, but not with anybody or any situation, just that he wanted to have one more chance. He would just say, When I get my shot again, if I ever get my chance again … I think I can get this done. …
“And then thinking about the resilience of Baker, who really bounced around—three different teams the year before I got him in Tampa—and to see him come in with such an openness, a humility, a hunger, but a hunger that wasn’t driven by negative forces. It wasn’t like, I’m gonna prove it to everybody. It was more like, I’m gonna prove it to myself. I know who I am, I know what I can do.”
So now, after getting players, or groups, out of ruts, he’ll try to do it for a whole franchise. And Morgan gets to see those Carroll-like qualities Canales flashed on another level.
Canales politely cut me off at the pass when I asked about the scar tissue that guys such as Derrick Brown, Jaycee Horn and Ickey Ekwonu, high-end talents drafted over the past few years, have built up after what they’ve seen in Carolina.
It’s not irrelevant, of course. But Canales doesn’t think it should be front of mind, either.
So where he started to dig in with his team was something incredibly simple.
“Just today—it was just today,” he says. “The first time I got to talk to the team, the focus was just on that. Today, we’re introducing the fundamentals of the Panthers’ offense. And Panthers defense, you guys have heard these terms, except for the new players. The focus goes forward. The focus isn’t about the past. The focus is, Where are we headed? Let’s just get our football right.”
By any measure, and Canales and his staff know this, the Panthers had a long way to go in that regard when they arrived. The roster had been stripped down over the past couple of years, with draft picks taking the place of established stars. Some of those picks worked out (Brown, notably), others didn’t. But the trend lines laid the truth bare—seven, five, five, five, seven and two wins in the past six seasons, and a minus-180 point differential in 2023.
The first job in digging out is, as Canales alluded to, getting guys’ minds in the right places.
To do that, the coach has established what he’s looking for, and, yes, all the buzz words are in play here. Effort. Enthusiasm. Toughness. Showing that toughness through the running game on offense. Playing together and full throttle on defense and special teams. Exhibiting football IQ in situational play. All of it.
And Canales had an interesting way of showing what he wants (and what he doesn’t want—“the catastrophic plays”) on tape. Yes, he showed the coaches’ tape. But he also gave his players plenty of the TV copy, and did so with a purpose.
“You get so much information,” he says. “You can actually see the amount of time on the bottom of the screen. You can see the actual seconds that are happening during a play, say, in a two-minute drill or in four-minute. You can see some of the high-definition, zoomed-in, one-on-one shots of players getting great technique. It’s a really cool tool. … It really engages players. I like to mix that into what we do as well; it’s not just the all-22.”
That, of course, flows into the second task, which is finding a way to reach guys already on the roster, draft picks left over from Matt Rhule, Frank Reich and Scott Fitterer, and try to get more out of them.
For his part, Canales swears he didn’t inherit something that was completely broken. There is talent on hand, he thinks, and, just as important, a lot of the right types of people.
“Initially, without adding anybody, what I found was a core group of guys that are really hard working and that really have a great way of creating a locker room environment,” Canales says. “That’s pretty cool to be in. These are tough guys. These are guys that love being here. They love being in the weight room. They get along great. They’re playful with each other. I think it all starts off with this blue-collar toughness to the guys that I love.
“I love seeing it. The people that we’re adding, we’re just saying, Hey, look, we already have this part of a dynamic happening. If you’re not sure how to be, watch these guys. It’s our Derrick Browns. It’s our Shaq Thompsons. It’s Austin Corbett, it’s Chuba Hubbard, it’s Tommy Tremble. … Really, a great core group of guys.”
Then, there’s the quarterback.
How Young plays in his second season will go a long way in determining whether the Panthers can turn around quickly. / Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports
The Panthers can talk about the other stuff until they’re some shade of blue in the face.
They know, really, a lot of this boils down to the fate of Bryce Young. Morgan was a part of trading up for and drafting him in 2023. Canales was hired, in large part, to get him turned around. And last year’s results, especially when juxtaposed against the guy drafted right behind him, C.J. Stroud, weren’t great. Young posted an anemic 73.7 passer rating, averaged a paltry 5.5 yards per attempt (worse than Bailey Zappe and Tyson Bagent), failed to hit 3,000 yards or complete 60% of his passes, and threw for 11 touchdowns against 10 picks.
So Canales knew after taking the job that he’d have to be in the weeds with Young from the beginning, and that started with a pair of dinners with the quarterback, so he’d have a chance to get to know what made him tick. He went in with a baseline of knowledge from inside the Panthers’ building, and also his connections in Southern California, where both Canales and Young are from. He knew character had never been a problem. Those dinners showed why.
Young came off as a guy who’d make it or die trying.
“He’s curious, and he really challenges himself,” Canales says. “He challenges himself to be great. He’s not satisfied with technique. He works on it to master it. He’s very methodical in how he goes about his studying, wants to know what’s happening with the routes, wants to hear the information. I love the curiosity that he brings to his work every day, and he’s got a patience about him too. He’s open to trying stuff.”
Taking it on the field confirmed something else research told Canales about Young—that he’s deadly accurate. “I really don’t have to spend a lot of time looking to where the ball goes because it’s usually right on the money, in stride,” Canales continues. “So I get to just focus on his base, focus on his footwork, where your eyes are at and those things.”
And as they’re doing that, and teaching Young to be more effective from under center, it’s obvious to the staff that the quarterback is not just accurate thanks to his prodigious arm talent, it’s also thanks to his knack for grasping the why of a play, putting him a step ahead.
Of course, Young, like everyone else, is in shorts now, and has plenty left to prove when that changes. That makes the good start he’s had with Canales just that: a start.
“He’s got a great foundation to build off,” the coach says. “Now it’s just a matter of throwing the core of what we’re doing at him and then seeing what things he looks most rhythmic with and most comfortable with so we can continue to try to find an identity for who we’re going to be."
With the overarching idea being if that means Young takes a big step, the Panthers will, too.
Morgan knows how the past few years have been in Carolina. Hired by his old Seahawks colleague Fitterer in May 2021, the former Pro Bowl linebacker returned to where he played seven seasons. He’s been witness to, and a party to, all that’s gone wrong in the franchise over the past three seasons.
He’s seen misery, so he’ll be first to echo Canales in reiterating that making Carolina the kind of place where NFL folks, both players and staff, want to work is Job No. 1.
“It is definitely something that we talked about from the jump,” Morgan says. “As soon as we got the job, we talked before that, but when he got the job, we wanted to make this a place that, whether it’s people in the building, in the front office or on the business side, and obviously the players and the staff, we just wanted them to be excited to get up in the morning and come to work.
“It was going to be a positive environment where you could reach your goals, reach your full potential and just have fun, whether it’s playing or just doing your job.”
So the trips like the ones to Topgolf, NASCAR and Chesney, and dinners like the outing to Steak 48 will keep going—Canales’s rule is to have at least one of those per month.
All the same, he plans on living that promise day-to-day too.
“Hopefully, they can feel the love and respect that I have for them,” the coach says. “Hopefully we’re able to reciprocate that across the board to each other. It’s just that inside-out thought process. If we treat each other well, then we’ll treat our players well. And this whole building, we all just have this love and respect mentality where we’re here pulling in the same direction. Those are the things that are important to me.
“Hopefully, they’ve been able to feel that this offseason.”
Safe to say that everyone in Carolina has. Whether they’ll still be excited to come to work in December and January, of course, remains to be seen.
For now, Canales is just happy to give his guys the best chance he can to get there.
We’re into the month of the schedule being released and spring practices (aka OTAs) starting, so let’s get into it …
• The New England Patriots’ expectation, I believe, is coming closer to reality, with the team honing in on finalizing its football operations structure for 2024.
With the blessing of the league office, New England punted on hiring a “primary football executive” in January. That role had been filled by coach Bill Belichick, was vacated upon his firing and wasn’t conferred over to Belichick’s replacement on the coaching side, Jerod Mayo. The idea from ownership here, as we explained in January, was to do a thorough vetting of the football operation as it stood, before making big-picture decisions post-draft.
Why? Well, because the Krafts felt like, to a large degree, Belichick’s shadow had been cast for years over capable people in the scouting department. From the selection of N’Keal Harry over Deebo Samuel and A.J. Brown in the first round in 2019, to a mass exodus of personnel folks right around that time, it was apparent to ownership that Belichick’s decisions didn’t always jibe with the evaluations of his scouts.
So Robert and Jonathan Kraft resolved to give the guys in-house, whom they liked, a chance to show what they had without that shadow enveloping them. They moved Eliot Wolf—son of Hall of Fame executive Ron Wolf, and with experience as the No. 2 with two different franchises—into the top role, leapfrogging him over director of player personnel Matt Groh with the belief that Wolf was best prepared and suited for a GM-type of job.
As such, Wolf got a three-month audition to show what he had, with Groh and Pat Stewart, who came up in the Patriots’ system, and was a top exec in Carolina under Matt Rhule and Scott Fitterer, as his top lieutenants. And the Krafts did leave a breadcrumb out there for anyone who wanted it, authorizing the hire of Alonzo Highsmith, who came up with Wolf in Green Bay, and went with him to work for John Dorsey in Cleveland.
And now, all signs are pointing toward Wolf landing the job in New England, to the degree where the Patriots have been turned down by prospective candidates with other teams that they’ve sought to interview (such as Buffalo’s Terrance Gray and Cincinnati’s Trey Brown), with those candidates leery that this is a done deal.
The truth being that it probably is.
• The one other detail on that to watch is how they handle the new primary football executive’s title. This will be Kraft’s 33rd season owning the Patriots, and he’s never had a general manager in title. Bobby Grier, Scott Pioli, Nick Caserio, Dave Ziegler and Matt Groh all entered the top scouting role under the title of director of player personnel. Grier and Pioli eventually ascended to vice president of the player personnel.
The last Patriots GM was Patrick Sullivan, the son of then owner Billy Sullivan. He held the title from 1983 to ’91.
Now, there would be a very real and functional reason to give someone like Wolf the title. Doing it would allow for the team to hire an assistant GM, and that title allows you to poach from another team without the other team having to let such a person out of their contract. So theoretically, the Patriots could use the GM interviews to search for an assistant GM, then use that assistant GM title to pull the candidate away from another organization.
If the Patriots were to do something like that, it’d be smart to look toward the Packers’ organization, and maybe someone like director of pro scouting Richmond Williams, to find guys who’d fit under Wolf.
• Great news from Cincinnati, where the Bengals released video of Joe Burrow, back from surgery on his throwing wrist, spinning the ball as he normally would (albeit with a sleeve over his right arm) inside the team’s practice bubble. He also told the team website that the timetable has allowed for him to have a relatively normal offseason, since he wouldn’t be throwing in earnest until OTAs, which is when he usually ramps things up anyway.
My understanding is that, through two days of throwing on-site, his velocity and deep range have been normal, and he’s in great shape, while there is a little rust and the team is monitoring his workload. I’d expect the Bengals to be careful with their franchise quarterback (with rest days, etc.), especially since he somehow still hasn’t had a full and normal offseason as a pro. Burrow lost time to ACL rehab in 2021, appendicitis in ’22 and a calf injury last summer.
• Every year, there’s a lot of noise in May over who the top quarterbacks will be in the following year’s draft. This year is no different. And sometimes, it can be tough to decipher what’s real, and what’s not (remember Spencer Rattler’s “stock” in the summer of 2021).
So I’d just say looking at the names, the guy I’ve heard the most real, genuine, this-guy-could-make it buzz in a class that looks just so-so right now is Georgia's Carson Beck. Scouts visiting Athens in November were alerted to the reality that he was almost certainly returning to school for a fourth season. But at that point, there was a thought that he could be taken in the top half of the first round in 2024. Making the idea of that real for ’25.
Obviously, we’ll be talking plenty about guys such as Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders and Texas’s Quinn Ewers too.
• The addition of Tyler Boyd to the Titans’ roster is a sharp one for Brian Callahan, who was together with the veteran receiver in Cincinnati. Every new head coach is well-served to have people who know the program, and the coach’s expectations, coming in. And until now, Callahan had only Chidobe Awuzie coming over from the Bengals with him.
That Boyd’s a pro’s pro only adds to the logic of the signing.
• It’s worth mentioning here, given the battle royale that’s ensued between college all-star games over the past few years, that the Senior Bowl remains at the top of the heap. Among the players who at least participated in practices at the various all-star games, the Senior Bowl had 25 of the 26 guys taken in the first two rounds (including all 10 first-rounders), and a 45-5-1 edge over the East/West Shrine Bowl and Hula Bowl, respectively, over the first four rounds.
Also, the one Hula Bowler taken in the first four rounds, Boston College CB and Arizona Cardinals third-rounder Elijah Jones, was a late injury add to the Senior Bowl, meaning he’d been high on their list. So … good job by Jim Nagy and the folks in Mobile on all of that.
• The Panthers added Rashaad Penny to a crowded running back group that already has Miles Sanders and Chuba Hubbard, which, rightfully, raised some question on the readiness of second-round pick Jonathon Brooks, who tore his ACL in November as a Texas junior.
My understanding is that Brooks will be held out of spring drills, with the expectation that he’s cleared on July 1, and starts training camp on a pitch count. That should give him a chance to play from the start of his rookie year, though he’ll have fewer early opportunities to make an impression on new coach Dave Canales and his staff. (It is worth noting that Penny was with Canales in Seattle for the first five years of his career.)
• Keep an eye on Chiefs fourth-rounder Jared Wiley. Some saw him as a top guy in the tight end group behind Brock Bowers in his class, and he turned some heads at the team’s rookie minicamp (his raw size and hands stood out). Plus, he’ll get to learn from a pretty good one.
• Not for nothing, I think the Vikings are pretty comfortable with Sam Darnold playing quarterback, which gives them flexibility with J.J. McCarthy. I’d also expect that Kevin O’Connell will have a detailed set of markers for McCarthy to hit as he tries to compete to become the starter. So if he does, that’s great news for the team. And if he hits the normal rookie speedbumps, that’s O.K. too, with Darnold in tow.
• Justin Simmons is one current free agent I’d be calling if I were a team.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers might have had the quietest offseason among the teams in the NFC South, but that doesn’t necessarily mean the reigning division champions are on the decline.
The Buccaneers could make it four consecutive division titles after retaining their key in-house free agents, including Mike Evans and Baker Mayfield. But the Atlanta Falcons, who had a fast start to the offseason, could be on the rise with the free-agent addition of Kirk Cousins.
The Falcons were viewed as clear favorites in the NFC South after adding Cousins to an offense that included Bijan Robison, Drake London and Kyle Pitts. But the gap might have closed after they used a first-round pick on quarterback Michael Penix Jr., while their divisional rivals strengthened their respective rosters with top picks that weren’t used on signal-callers.
The New Orleans Saints drafted a quarterback (Spencer Rattler in the fifth round), but used their first-round pick on offensive lineman Taliese Fuaga to help Derek Carr.
The Carolina Panthers also prioritized their offseason to assist quarterback Bryce Young, but they still have a long way to go to catch up to the rest of the pack.
Here are grades and analysis for how the NFC South teams did this offseason.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Offseason grade: B
Key additions: C Graham Barton, Edge Chris Braswell, OG Ben Bredeson, Edge Randy Gregory, S Jordan Whitehead
Key subtractions: CB Carlton Davis III, LB Devin White
Analysis: The Buccaneers avoided offseason splash moves and prioritized their core group, one that surprised in 2023 with Mayfield’s resurgence. Tampa Bay should again contend for the NFC South title after retaining Evans, Mayfield and safety Antoine Winfield Jr., who was hit with the franchise tag. Evans and Mayfield gained long-term extensions after helping the Buccaneers advance to the divisional round.
It’s not the flashiest roster, but the Buccaneers have talent throughout and continue to improve the offensive and defensive lines. Tom Brady might be jealous of the offensive line the Buccaneers have built for Mayfield over the past two seasons. Tampa Bay selected Graham Barton, possibly the best center in the draft, to join a group that made strides last season after failing to protect Brady in 2022.
The Buccaneers, however, took a risk handing Mayfield a three-year extension worth up to $115 million after one dynamic season in Tampa Bay. Mayfield, the former top pick of the Cleveland Browns, will also be without Dave Canales, the offensive coordinator who became the Panthers’ coach in the offseason. But the Buccaneers made many savvy moves to ensure Mayfield’s ’23 season wasn’t a fluke.
Key subtractions: RB Cordarrelle Patterson, QB Desmond Ridder, TE Jonnu Smith
Analysis: The Falcons quickly went from being NFC South favorites with Cousins to a team with quarterback concerns following the first-round selection of Penix. Not only did the Falcons create an awkward scenario, they failed to improve the 2024 squad by using their No. 8 pick on a player who might not play for a few seasons. Had the Falcons gone with the best player available, perhaps they would have gotten an A grade for the offseason and be viewed as NFC South favorites for longer than a month.
But the Falcons could still have the best team in the division if Cousins makes a full recovery from the torn Achilles he sustained last season with the Minnesota Vikings. Cousins will get to work with coach Raheem Morris and offensive coordinator Zac Robinson, two former Los Angeles Rams assistant coaches who had plenty of success under Sean McVay. With the Falcons having talented skill players, perhaps Cousins and a new coaching staff were the final pieces for Atlanta to clinch a playoff spot for the first time since 2017. But they might have been viewed as Super Bowl contenders had they drafted one of the top edge rushers in the draft instead of Penix. Maybe Penix gets an opportunity to start a game or two in 2024 to impress and quiet the critics.
New Orleans Saints
Offseason grade: B-
Key additions: OL Taliese Fuaga, LB Willie Gay Jr., CB Kool-Aid McKinstry, QB Spencer Rattler, WR Cedrick Wilson Jr., Edge Chase Young
Key subtractions: S Marcus Maye, OG Andrus Peat, WR Michael Thomas, QB Jameis Winston
Analysis: With a veteran-filled roster, New Orleans balanced the present and the future after saying goodbye to key players and hello to prominent rookies. The Saints are far removed from the days of Drew Brees and Sean Payton, but they neglected the full rebuild route the past three seasons and missed the postseason every year in that span. The organization seems to have finally adjusted after parting with Michael Thomas, Marcus Maye and Andrus Peat. The moves they made provided some cap space flexibility for the Saints, something they haven’t had much of in recent years.
For the most part, the 2024 Saints should have a similar look to last season heading into Year 2 with Carr as the starting quarterback. Carr had mixed results in his first season in New Orleans, but played well in the final month and should have better protection with the arrival of Fuaga, a rugged run blocker who can play tackle and guard. But the Saints might be making a mistake by relying on Trevor Penning and Ryan Ramczyk as the starting tackles again. Penning has struggled since being a 2022 first-round pick and Ramczyk has dealt with injuries. If Carr gets time to operate, he’ll have Chris Olave and Rashid Shaheed to hurt defenses downfield.
On defense, the team took a chance on Chase Young, who had a rocky 2023 season after being traded by the Commanders to the 49ers. But the move could pay off, with veteran defensive end Cameron Jordan needing help. New Orleans could have a foundational piece in second-round cornerback Kool-Aid McKinstry.
Carolina Panthers
Offseason grade: C+
Key additions: RB Jonathon Brooks, Edge K’Lavon Chaisson, Edge Jadeveon Clowney, S Jordan Fuller, OG Robert Hunt, WR Diontae Johnson,LB Josey Jewell, WR Xavier Legette, OG Damien Lewis, Edge D.J. Wonnum
Key subtractions: S Vonn Bell, Edge Brian Burns, S Jeremy Chinn, Edge Yetur Gross-Matos, CB Donte Jackson, LB Frankie Luvu
Analysis: Let’s get the bad out of the way because there have been plenty of offseason positives for the worst team in the NFL last year. The Panthers’ rebuild project took a hit after they elected to trade Brian Burns to the New York Giants for two draft picks, neither in the first round. It’s been well documented that the Panthers had the opportunity to trade Burns in 2022 for multiple first-round picks. With that in mind, it was strange that the Panthers didn’t just keep Burns on the roster to continue building the defense with stud defensive tackle Derrick Brown, who cashed in this offseason with a lucrative contract extension.
The Panthers also spent money on the offensive side to assist Young, the 2023 No. 1 pick coming off a rough rookie season. Perhaps no offseason acquisition was more important than the hiring of Canales, the offensive guru who helped reignite the careers of Mayfield and Geno Smith. The Panthers added weapons and protection for Young, including the splash signing of guard Robert Hunt, whom the team might have overpaid for with a monster five-year, $100 million contract. Veteran wideout Adam Thielen won’t have to carry the team like he did last season, with the trade for Diontae Johnson and first-round selection of Xavier Legette. Also, the Panthers improved the poor ground game by using a second-round pick for running back Jonathon Brooks.
Offensively, the Panthers might have done enough this offseason to gain positive results from Young in Year 2. The defense, however, might not be able to replace the production of Burns. Newcomer veterans Jadeveon Clowney and D.J. Wonnum will need to step up to help Brown and the rest of the defense.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers were overlooked last season after the retirement of Tom Brady, with many predicting them to finish last in the NFC South.
Obviously, that didn’t occur with Tampa Bay winning the division for a third consecutive season—GM Jason Licht kept receipts of the doubters and let one familiar reporter know about it.
Licht might be keeping receipts again because many football pundits have been talking about the Atlanta Falcons this offseason. The arrival of Kirk Cousins gave Atlanta the headlines—and again after the draft selection of Michael Penix Jr.
But the under-the-radar Buccaneers made many savvy moves this offseason, and the same can be said for the New Orleans Saints and Carolina Panthers.
Here’s how we view the rosters in the NFC South with free agency and the draft in the rearview mirror.
4. Carolina Panthers
The Panthers were wise to prioritize Bryce Young’s surroundings this offseason, which could lead to a much-improved offensive unit under the guidance of new coach Dave Canales. But both sides of the football still have a long way to go before turning into a playoff roster.
After heavily relying on Adam Thielen last season, the Panthers added help for the veteran wideout and their young QB. They formed a diverse receiving corps with the trade for downfield threat Diontae Johnson and first-round selection of Xavier Legette, a 6'3," 227-pound wideout who could thrive on the outside, especially with contested catches. The second-round selection of running back Jonathon Brooks should give the backfield a boost after a dismal season for the rushing attack. On paper, Young appears to be better set up for success in Year 2, especially behind a revamped offensive line with newcomer guards Robert Hunt and Damien Lewis. If they get production from left tackle Ikem Ekwonu, the 2022 first-round pick, perhaps the Panthers go from the bottom of the standings to flirting with a .500 season. This is still far from an elite unit, though.
As for the defense, the Panthers could have a tough time replacing Brian Burns, who was traded to the New York Giants, with a veteran rotation of edge rushers including D.J. Wonnum, Jadeveon Clowney and K’Lavon Chaisson. Perhaps that could be enough with stud defensive tackle Derrick Brown anchoring the middle of the defensive line. The linebacker group could be better with free-agent addition Josey Jewell. And so could the secondary if they get a healthy season from cornerback Jaycee Horn, the 2021 first-round pick.
3. New Orleans Saints
The Saints made a bunch of moves in the offseason that could benefit Derek Carr and his explosive receivers Chris Olave and Rashid Shaheed. It’s tough, however, to gauge whether the Saints view Carr as a long-term answer at quarterback after a rollercoaster first season in New Orleans.
The Saints might be tied to Carr for at least two more seasons with the way his contract was constructed. But the team took a chance on Spencer Rattler, the intriguing fifth-round selection with potential upside. If Carr finds consistency in Year 2 with the Saints, he might not have to worry about Rattler.
The team parted with veteran guard Andrus Peat and drafted a potential replacement in rugged blocker Taliese Fuaga with a first-round pick. But Fuaga might be best at right tackle, a position that currently belongs to veteran Ryan Ramczyk, who has injury concerns. If Fuaga starts the season at guard, that likely means the Saints haven’t given up on left tackle Trevor Penning, the 2022 first-round pick who has struggled the past two years. Versatile playmakers Alvin Kamara and Taysom Hill are back in New Orleans to make this an intriguing offense if the blockers allow Carr time to operate.
The defense has plenty of household names, but many are in the back end of their prime. They got younger with the free-agent addition of edge rusher Chase Young to help veteran Cameron Jordan. But Young has had mixed results throughout his career, even during his short stint with the San Francisco 49ers last season. The team will need 2023 first-round pick Bryan Bresee to step up and aid the interior of the defensive line. The secondary should remain a strength with rookie cornerback Kool-Aid McKinstry joining Marshon Lattimore and Tyrann Mathieu.
2. Atlanta Falcons
Kirk Cousins has had an interesting start with the Falcons, to say the least.
On one hand, Cousins is joining a team rich with skill players, including Bijan Robinson, Drake London and Kyle Pitts, and will get to work with coach Raheem Morris and offensive coordinator Zac Robinson, two former Rams assistants who had plenty of success under Sean McVay. But on the other hand, he left the Minnesota Vikings at least partially because he was told they were aiming to draft his successor in the first round. That scenario occurred in Atlanta a month after joining the Falcons on a four-year, $180 million contract. The team created an awkward dilemma with the first-round selection of Michael Penix Jr., a move that could pay off in the long run but doesn’t do much in 2024.
Cousins and the Falcons have a good enough roster to make noise in the NFC South, but missed an opportunity to draft an immediate impact player to make them more than divisional contenders. Putting aside the quarterback dilemma, the Falcons have stability on the offensive line and added depth at wide receiver with Rondale Moore, Darnell Mooney and Ray-Ray McCloud III. One will need to step up as the No. 2 wideout behind London, who was often open last season to no avail as his signal-callers failed to get him the ball. Pitts might finally put it together on the field with Cousins and a new coaching staff.
The defense will probably build off its promising 2023 season due to the arrival of Morris, who flourished as the Rams’ defensive coordinator the past three seasons and won a Super Bowl in L.A. Atlanta boasts a strong secondary with safety Jessie Bates III and cornerback A.J Terrell, and the defensive front could be better with talented Day 2 picks Ruke Orhorhoro and Bralen Trice.
1. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
If Baker Mayfield’s 2023 season proves not to be a fluke, the Buccaneers will be well positioned themselves to capture the NFC South title for the fourth consecutive season.
Mayfield might no longer have offensive play-caller Canales, who’s now coaching the Panthers, but they retained his best wide receiver in Mike Evans, who signed a lucrative contract extension this offseason, and improved the offensive line with the first-round selection of Graham Barton, possibly the best center in the draft. With stud left tackle Tristan Wirfs, the Buccaneers could have the best offensive line in the division, which would be a plus for running back Rachaad White, who impressed last season. But the Buccaneers could use another pass catcher to go with Chris Godwin, Evans and tight end Cade Otton. Perhaps Trey Palmer or rookie Jalen McMillan will emerge as a reliable target for Mayfield.
Considering the production coach Todd Bowles received last season, the Bucs might have the best defense in the division. The front should be ferocious with former Pro Bowler Vita Vea and 2023 rookie standouts YaYa Diaby and Calijah Kancey. The team also drafted edge rusher Chris Braswell in the second round and signed veteran Randy Gregory. K.J. Britt and Lavonte David form a productive linebacker duo, and the secondary is filled with talent, including All-Pro safety Antoine Winfield Jr. If Mayfield can maintain the level of play he did last year, Tampa Bay should return to the playoffs with even more receipts.