Grading the Panthers' 2023 Offseason Moves

Now that the 2023 season is in the rearview mirror, it's possible to assess what took place in the offseason with adequate data. There were moves aplenty for Carolina last spring, and some were clearly better than others. Lets take a look.

January 26: Hired Frank Reich as head coach

This blurb won't need much. Reich amassed a 1-10 record as the head coach in Carolina before he was unceremoniously fired after a loss in Tennessee. Reich's term in Charlotte was the second shortest head coaching reign in league history. A disaster from top to bottom.

Grade: F

March 10th: Traded DJ Moore, 2023 1st round pick (#9), 2023 2nd round pick (#61), 2024 1st round pick (#1), 2025 2nd round pick (TBD) for 2023 1st round pick (#1)

Another disaster for Carolina. DJ Moore has wrapped up his 2023 campaign with a top five receiving output in Chicago Bears history. Bryce Young has wrapped up his 2023 campaign with one of the worst passing seasons in league history. Carolina finished 2023 as the worst team in the league and gift-wrapped the number one overall pick in the upcoming draft to Chicago on top of a top ten pick last year, and a potential top 50 pick next year when Carolina projects to be bad again. 

Grade: F

March 11th: Signed Shaq Thompson to a two-year contract extension

Thompson has undoubtedly lost a step on the field, but his veteran presence on the defense can not be quantified. Thompson was supposed to call the plays on the field for the defense, but his 2023 season was lost with a broken leg in week two.

Grade: Incomplete

March 13th: Signed Bradley Bozeman to a three-year contract

Is it possible to give a passing grade to anything related to the 2023 Panthers' offensive line? If nothing else, Bozeman has been a picture of consistency as he didn't miss a single snap this season. PFF grades Bozeman at 62.0, an average player, but with the turmoil at both guard spots surrounding him it's hard to expect the veteran center to thrive.

Grade: B-

March 13th: Signed Shy Tuttle to a three-year contract

Tuttle was signed as a run-stuffing tackle, and unfortunately he didn't stuff much. He was on the field for 53% of defensive snaps (a career high), and totaled 34 tackles. For a rotational piece on the worst run defense in the league, Tuttle was fine. 

Grade: C

March 13th: Signed Vonn Bell to a three-year contract

We maybe should have seen this as the end of the Jeremy Chinn era, right? Bell has, like Tuttle, been solid, yet unspectacular. He missed a couple of games with an injury, and his presence on the field was rarely seen. I'm interested in seeing him in 2024 with more consistent secondary play and generally more health around him.

Grade: C

March 15th: Signed Miles Sanders to a four-year contract

In a world where NFL teams are devaluing running backs, Carolina zagged. Sanders signed the richest running back contract of the 2023 offseason, and it burned the Panthers. 

Sanders entered free agency at the peak of his value. His 2022 season was Pro Bowl-worthy, and he had his career-best season behind Philadelphia's elite offensive line. When he got to Carolina, his targets were coming from a rookie quarterback, his offensive line couldn't open up holes for him, and he was outplayed by an incumbent running back who earned his first chance at significant snaps. 

Grade: D-

March 15th: Signed Hayden Hurst to a three-year contract

Hurst stormed out of the gates. In week one, he was the recipient of Bryce Young's first career touchdown, and it seemed that the rookie quarterback was going to look at Hurst as his safety valve. Unfortunately for Hurst, his season peaked that afternoon in Atlanta. 

The veteran tight end was unproductive when he was healthy. Much like Sanders, Hurst has been outplayed by incumbent players taking on a bigger role (Stephen Sullivan and Tommy Tremble). A devastating concussion and it's after effects prematurely ended his season. 

Grade: C-

March 19th: Signed Adam Thielen to a three-year contract

2023 was a renaissance for Thielen. He topped 100 receptions and 1000 yards for the first time since 2018. Thielen became the go-to target for Young, for better or for worse. The veteran receiver sure has lost a step, and ideally he'll move down the pecking order when it comes to targets going forward, but he was the only consistent producer for an offense that was desperate for him. 

The three-year contract may not age well going forward but Thielen was definitely a hit for 2023.

Grade: A-

March 24: Signed DJ Chark to a one-year contract

High Highs, and Low Lows: the 2023 DJ Chark Story.

If you only watched the week 16 game against Green Bay, you could be convinced that DJ Chark is one of the best receivers in football.

If you only watched the week 17 game against Jacksonville, you could be convinced that DJ Chark is one of the worst receivers in football.

Chark was brought in to stretch opposing defenses and be a vertical threat that Carolina has missed in previous seasons. His 525 receiving yards are good for second on the team, but for what was expected out of Chark, this season was a disappointment.

Grade: C-

April 28: Drafted Bryce Young, Jonathan Mingo, D.J. Johnson, Chandler Zavala, and Jammie Robinson

Enough ink has been spilled on the plight of Bryce Young. He hasn't been great. The draft class as a whole hasn't been either.

Mingo showed flashes of a productive wide receiver, but mental mistakes and drops plagued his rookie season. Zavala was a turnstile before his season ending injury. Johnson only played 34% of snaps his rookie season after the Panthers traded up to draft him. Johnson flaunted elite athletic traits, and as an older prospect, Carolina expected him to contribute quickly. That hasn't happened. The draft class showed enough potential to not garner an "F" grade, but it hasn't earned much higher than that.

Grade: D+

August: Signed Deion Jones and Justin Houston

Jones and Houston were brought in to be depth pieces and veteran leaders on a competing team. General manger Scott Fitterer famously said that the team won't be picking at the top of the draft anymore. 

Oops. 

Neither Jones nor Houston made a significant impact on defense, and the veterans ended up wasting a year in the twilight of their careers on the worst team in football. Bad for everyone involved.

Grade: C-

Overall GPA: D

There's no two ways about it. The 2023 offseason was backbreaking for the Panthers. The team showed loads of potential down the stretch in 2022, but any progress made at the end of that campaign was stunted with the hire of Frank Reich, the trade with Chicago, and the failures in free agency. Here's hoping that better things are to come in 2024 and beyond.

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