Steelers-Dolphins blockbuster trade means Panthers miss out on three potential upgrades

The Carolina Panthers need a safety. They also need a tight end, and another cornerback would be nice. Somehow, players at all three of those positions got traded on Monday, and not one of them is heading to Carolina.

The Pittsburgh Steelers and Miami Dolphins agreed on a massive blockbuster deal, sending Jonnu Smith and Jalen Ramsey to the Steelers and Minkah Fitzpatrick to Miami. Any one of them would've been a huge addition to the Panthers, but they didn't seem to try making a trade.

Could Carolina have afforded any of them? Maybe not, with the exception of Smith. Ramsey and Fitzpatrick were largely traded for each other, so the Panthers would've had to deal a similarly costly and good player back to get either one, and they don't really have that to part with right now.

They could've sent draft picks for Smith, but they're not really in the business of investing capital in anything but more picks or actual prospects, so that was unlikely, even if it was possible. Plus, the Panthers invested two day-three picks in the tight end position in 2024 and 2025, so it's not like they need to spend more there until they see for certain if either Mitchell Evans or Ja'Tavion Sanders is the guy.

Carolina's not in the position to take from one spot on the field to shore up another. The Steelers depleted their safety depth to add to their cornerback depth, and Carolina really doesn't have enough depth anywhere to do that. Still, it's clear that upgrades were out there, but Carolina couldn't land them.