When you’ve been as bad as the Carolina Panthers have been in recent years, one might think it would be smart to just let your play do the talking. It might be smart to not run your mouth before the season even starts.
No one gave Panthers second year head coach and former Tampa Bay Buccaneers offensive coordinator Dave Canales that memo. Canales recently sent a message to the rest of the NFC South Division his old team is likely to take to heart.
Canales spent one season running Tampa Bay’s offense in 2023 before he was hired by the Panthers.
“The sky’s the limit for this group,” Canales told ESPN’s David Newton on July 23. “This is going to be a very competitive team. I don’t think people are going to want to play us by the style of football that we play. I’m expecting that. My expectations are really high for this group.”
The Buccaneers are trying to make the playoffs for the sixth consecutive season and win a fourth consecutive NFC South Division title. The Panthers went 5-12 in Canales’ first season in 2024, haven’t made the playoffs since 2017 and are trying to avoid a ninth consecutive losing season.
Figuring Out Why Panthers Are So Bad
If you want to know why the Panthers have been so bad over the last decade, it starts at the top.
The team hasn’t had a winning record since former owner and founder Jerry Richardson was essentially forced to sell the team to David Tepper for $2.2 billion in 2018 after a series of workplace scandals that eventually ended with Richardson being fined $2.75 million by the NFL.
Then, there’s the head coaches. A lot of them. Not including interim head coaches, Canales was the third head coach in 3 years for the Panthers and fourth head coach in the last 7 years.
Then, there’s the draft picks. Of the 7 first round picks the Panthers made from 2018 to 2024, 2 of them are now highly paid players on other teams with edge rusher Brian Burns and wide receiver D.J. Moore.
Carolina’s 2020 first round pick, defensive tackle Derrick Brown, signed a 4-year, $96 million contract extension in April 2024 but only played one game last season after he tore his meniscus. Cornerback Jaycee Horn, the 2021 first round pick, is coming off his first Pro Bowl in 2024 and signed a 4-year, $100 million contract extension on March 10.
The last 2 years have been where the Panthers truly came undone.
In 2023 they traded away their first and second round picks, 2024 first round pick, 2025 second round pick and Moore in exchange for the No. 1 overall pick, where they took Alabama quarterback Bryce Young. In 2024, they took South Carolina wide receiver Xavier Legette at No. 32 overall.
Both players, to this point, seem like busts.
Vegas Projects Panthers As One Of NFL’s Worst
Oddsmakers in Las Vegas project the Panthers to be among the NFL’s worst teams once again in 2025.
According to VegasInsider.com, both BetMGM and Bally Sports have Carolina’s over/under win total for the upcoming season at 6.5 wins — only ahead of the projected 5.5 win totals for the Tennessee Titans, New York Giants, Cleveland Browns and fellow NFC South doormat New Orleans Saints.
