The Carolina Panthers head into the 2025 campaign with quiet optimism. It remains a precarious situation that could go either way, but there's a growing sense that head coach Dave Canales is steadying the ship en route to brighter fortunes.
Everything must go well to achieve this feat. The Panthers need their top performers to be firing on all cylinders throughout the campaign. They need a better run of luck on the health front. They also need their historically bad defense to be more competitive in pursuit of shaking things up in the NFC South.
Dan Morgan invested heavily to improve the options at defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero's disposal this offseason.