NFL analyst's 'biggest need' for Carolina Panthers won't help them at all in 2025

There is no cure for bad management. At the end of the day, that's what has landed the Carolina Panthers in their ongoing seven-year streak of losing seasons more than anything else.

While their 2025 NFL draft class looks promising on paper, almost nothing else this organization has done since mid-2018 has worked out well for them.

This latest offseason was yet another example of the front office shooting its own roster in the foot. After an aggressive free agency period and a (tentatively) quality draft class, the Panthers started sewing the seeds of their own destruction by releasing Jadeveon Clowney for no good reason at all at the end of May.

The Panthers followed up that perlexing decision by not trying to find a real replacement for Josey Jewell after releasing him. Then they did not bother signing another proven safety to start next to Tre'Von Moehrig. They followd that up by trading Adam Thielen because they (very) wrongfully believed their receiver corps would be just fine without him.

Heading into Week 5, they're already pretty much out of the playoff race - which has NFL.com analyst Kevin Patra naming their biggest need as draft assets.

"The rebuild in Carolina continues to proceed in fits and starts. One week, the Panthers pitch a shutout the next, they get 42 hung on them. The defensive front and linebacker corps are porous. Carolina also needs more young playmakers in the front seven. It seems way too early to move on from 2024 first-round pick Xavier Legette, but even when healthy, the receiver has struggled mightily (28.1 yards per game in his career so far)."