{"id":546567,"date":"2026-03-17T16:59:10","date_gmt":"2026-03-17T16:59:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/546567\/"},"modified":"2026-03-17T16:59:10","modified_gmt":"2026-03-17T16:59:10","slug":"nfl-insider-hails-panthers-bold-signings-of-jaelan-phillips-and-devin-lloyd","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/546567\/","title":{"rendered":"NFL Insider Hails Panthers\u2019 \u2018Bold\u2019 Signings of Jaelan Phillips and Devin Lloyd"},"content":{"rendered":"

This is Dan Morgan\u2019s third offseason since being promoted to president of football operations\/general manager\u00a0of the Carolina Panthers in January of 2024. The previous three seasons (2021-23), the former first-round pick of the Panthers <\/a>was the franchise\u2019s assistant general manager. To say he\u2019s been busy and pretty successful adding talent to a team that finished 2-15 in 2023 is a bit understated.<\/p>\n

Three years ago, Carolina signed guards Robert Hunt (Dolphins) and Damien Lewis (Seahawks) and swung a deal with Seattle for cornerback Mike Jackson. <\/a>Last offseason, there was a lot of emphasis put on defense with the free-agent additions of interior performers Tershawn Wharton and Bobby Brown III, edge rusher Patrick Jones II, linebacker Christian Rozeboom, and safety Tre\u2019von Moehrig.<\/p>\n

\"Dan<\/p>\n

Oct 5, 2025; Charlotte, North Carolina, USA; Carolina Panthers general manager Dan Morgan on the field before the gsme at Bank of America Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-Imagn Images | Bob Donnan-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

Carolina has made steady improvement the past 2 seasons<\/p>\n

The Panthers went from two wins in \u201923 to a 5-12 mark in 2024. This past season, the club finished under .500 for the eighth straight year. However, an 8-9 record not only marked the second straight year that the team increased its victory total by three, it was good enough to win the NFC South.<\/p>\n

Still, there\u2019s obviously some work to be done when you lose 10 games (including the wild card loss to the Los Angeles Rams). So far, Morgan has delivered in a big way in terms of addressing the club\u2019s two biggest needs.<\/p>\n

Alex Ballentine<\/a> of Bleacher Report looked at all 32 teams and used one word to describe each franchise\u2019s offseason to date. It\u2019s a four-letter word, and one that describes the recent approach of the team the last few years.<\/p>\n

Bold.<\/p>\n

\"Devin<\/p>\n

Jacksonville Jaguars linebacker Devin Lloyd (0) tackles Tennessee Titans running back Tony Pollard (20) during the third quarter in an NFL football matchup at EverBank Stadium, Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026, in Jacksonville, Fla. The Jaguars defeated the Titans 41-7 [Doug Engle\/Florida Times-Union] | Doug Engle\/Florida Times-Union \/ USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images<\/p>\n

Aggressive GM Dan Morgan added a pair of defensive playmakers<\/p>\n

\u201cFactoring in his age and production,\u201d explained Ballentine, “Jaelan Phillips <\/a>was arguably the best free agent available this cycle. The Panthers emerged as a team capable of acquiring that kind of talent and brought in Devin Lloyd <\/a>to bolster their unit. They answered two of their biggest questions with big additions.\u201d<\/p>\n

Phillips was a first-round pick by the Miami Dolphins in 2021 who spent the second half of 2025 with the Eagles following a trade. Injuries limited him to a total of 12 games from 2023-24 with Miami. This past season, he combined to play in 17 games with the Birds and \u2018Fins, as well as in the Eagles\u2019 playoff loss. His presence should elevate 2025<\/a> draft choices Nic Scourton (who tied for the lead with 5.0 sacks in 2025 with Derrick Brown) and Princely Umanmielen <\/a>as they prepare for their second seasons.<\/p>\n

Lloyd was a big-play performer and a first-time Pro Bowler for the AFC South champion Jaguars.<\/a> He gives Carolina a productive performer who was seemingly all over the field in 2025. In four seasons, he\u2019s picked off nine passes (5 in 2025) and recovered six fumbles (including playoffs). His 99-yard pick-six of Patrick Mahomes in a Week 5 Monday night win over the Chiefs was one of the defensive highlights of the season.<\/p>\n

Come September, we will find out if Morgan\u2019s boldness begins to pay off.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This is Dan Morgan\u2019s third offseason since being promoted to president of football operations\/general manager\u00a0of the Carolina Panthers…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":546568,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[559],"tags":[64,63,593,85],"class_list":["post-546567","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nfl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-nfl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/546567","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=546567"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/546567\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/546568"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=546567"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=546567"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=546567"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}