With new head coach Dave Canales leading the transition, the Carolina Panthers have completely overhauled their offensive staff this winter. And with new faces comes new connections for the organization.
Here are 13 pending offensive free agents, in areas of particular need, with ties to Canales’ staff:
Wide receivers
Mike Evans: The future Hall of Famer had his best season in five years with Canales calling the plays in Tampa Bay. He’s also quite familiar with Panthers offensive coordinator Brad Idzik, who was the wide receivers coach for the Buccaneers in 2023.
Chris Moore and Nick Westbrook-Ikhine: Westbrook-Ikhine has spent each of his four NFL seasons with Rob Moore, the new Panthers wide receivers coach. Moore (Chris) was with Moore (Rob) and the Tennessee Titans for 2023.
Tight Ends
David Wells: While he didn’t contribute much on offense, Wells played the 2023 campaign with Canales in Tampa.
Noah Fant and Colby Parkinson: These two Seahawks both spent multiple seasons under Panthers tight end coach Pat McPherson. McPherson was in charge of the position for the last 14 years in Seattle.
Offensive linemen
Matt Feiler, Nick Leverett, Justin Skule and Aaron Stinnie: This quartet of Tampa Bay hog mollies crossed paths with Joe Gilbert, Carolina’s new offensive line coach.
Evan Brown, Phil Haynes and Damien Lewis: As we take another trip out west, this trio worked with Panthers offensive assistant line coach Keli’i Kekuewa in Seattle. He served in the same post for the Seahawks from 2021 to 2023.
