Panthers to switch to a 3-4?

NFL.com’s Michael Lombardi made some noise today by casually referencing that the Panthers would be switching to a 3-4 defense this season in a season preview. This came as a big surprise to many because Lombardi is pretty well regarded and there had been no mention of the Panthers doing such a thing by any of their beat writers or coaches this offseason. The potential move did make some sense as Head Coach Ron Rivera has his background as a coordinator of 3-4 defenses. However, any potential move to a 3-4 would not be a good fit for their personnel. The Panthers have three talented and high paid linebackers in Luke Kuechly, James Anderson, and Jon Beason, and one experienced (and highly paid) backup in Thomas Davis. However, none of those players could play 3-4 outside linebacker because they aren’t good pass rushers. They would all have to play 3-4 middle linebacker, which would create a huge logjam and leave one talented and highly paid linebacker without a starting job and leave...