The Carolina Panthers missed the playoffs in 2024, but the team could make their long-awaited postseason return in 2025. While their 5-12 record doesn’t look good on the surface, the team finished on a high note, with former first-overall pick Bryce Young playing like a legitimate franchise quarterback down the stretch. The Panthers entered the previous offseason with the worst roster in football, and nobody expected the team to fix every issue in one year.
However, the foundational pieces are in place for sustained success. Bryce Young is playing up to his draft stock, head coach Dave Canales knows what he’s doing, and most of General Manager Dan Morgan’s offseason decisions worked out. Now, it’s time for the team to escape the NFC South basement and make a playoff push. While it won’t be easy, they can do it if they successfully complete the following steps.
How the Panthers Can Make the Playoffs in 2025
Step 1: Believe In Young
After a disastrous rookie year in a terrible environment, Bryce Young lost his starting job just two games into the regular season. With veteran backup Andy Dalton bringing some life to the offense, it looked like Young’s time in Carolina was over. However, the Alabama product took the starting job when Dalton got into a car crash and never looked back. Young looked like a different player in the back half of the season, making high-level throws on a routine basis and finishing the season with a five-touchdown performance against the Atlanta Falcons.
Quite simply, for the past month or two, Young has been everything he was supposed to be coming out of the NFL Draft. The Carolina Panthers need a backup quarterback with Andy Dalton set to hit free agency, but they don’t need anyone to fight for the QB1 job. The offensive line is one of the league’s best, the young pass-catchers showed promise, and this side of the ball won’t need much work. While a veteran receiver wouldn’t hurt matters, most of the focus should go to the other side of the ball.
Step 2: Defense, Defense, Defense
The Carolina Panthers had a historically bad defense in 2024. Everyone knew the unit wouldn’t be good, as Dan Morgan and company spent the offseason focused on the offensive side of the ball. This subpar unit got even worse when elite defensive tackle Derrick Brown went down for the season in Week 1. Ultimately, the unit allowed 31.4 points per game, a ridiculous number that prevented the Panthers from winning games with an improved Young.
The Panthers must take care of their own, and that starts with extending cornerback Jaycee Horn. While he has yet to play up to his top-10 draft capital, he’s essentially the only defensive back who can consistently cover. He shouldn’t break the bank, which means extending him shouldn’t notably eat into Carolina’s offseason budget. Mike Jackson was a welcome surprise, but he probably shouldn’t be anything more than the third-best cornerback on any given depth chart.
Solidifying the secondary with a Horn extension and one or two free agent signings should free the way for Carolina to address the front seven in the 2025 NFL Draft. Carolina holds the eighth-overall pick in the draft, which means at least one of Nic Scourton, James Pearce, and Mykel Williams should be on the board when the Panthers are on the clock. Nobody’s expecting this unit to resemble the 1985 Chicago Bears, but adding another cornerback and one or two pass rushers in the draft should be enough to get this unit to league-average play.
Main Photo: Brett Davis – USA Today Sports
