There are a lot of takeaways that can be formulated about the Carolina Panthers, but they all come back to one word – disappointing. If they want to improve, they must treat the 2022 NFL free agency period smartly, which includes vastly improving their offense.

Yes, injuries to Christian McCaffrey were quite detrimental to the team’s offensive chemistry, but Sam Darnold has not looked even remotely close to being the team’s long-term solution at QB, putting the ball back in the court of HC Matt Rhule and the front office. Rhule has not had the coolest of seats either as his team has struggled, and being paid big money to make the jump to the big leagues means you have to have sustained success early on.

If Carolina wants to try and compete in the wide-open NFC South, then this offseason needs to represent a big step forward for them – here are two players that they should avoid signing during free agency.

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Panthers Free Agents to Avoid

Stephon Gilmore

Even by having over $25 million in cap space, the Panthers cannot afford to be crazy spenders this offseason – however, they still need to utilize their salary cap to improve their team, so making the most of that money is going to be key.

The Panthers acquired Stephon Gilmore last season from the New England Patriots for a 2023 6th round selection, an extremely discounted return for a solid defensive back. Likely due for a pay increase this offseason, Gilmore is heading into his age-32 season and will surely be overpaid for how old he is.

Instead, Carolina should rely on Jaycee Horn and A.J. Bouye instead as their top CBs and let Gilmore walk, choosing to spend their cap space more efficiently on other areas of their team, like offensive line and quarterback.

Any QBs

Look – this year is not a good year to be a team that needs QB help, which Carolina is assuredly a part of. As the team decides what to do next with Darnold, this year’s free agency class offers up a lot of nothing across the board.

Jameis Winston and Mitchell Trubisky are the best options to sign this offseason, which says a ton about the lack of depth this FA class provides. And if looking in the draft, there is no clear-cut top option that jumps out to teams, making it tough to justify allocating a lot of money and capital into them.

The Panthers are not going anywhere soon with how many holes are in their roster, so rushing into a QB addition from the free agency pool this offseason will only push their competitive window back further than it already has been. Darnold is fine as a placeholder for this team, but if Rhule and the front office want to retain their jobs, then assembling their assets to make sure the QB position is figured out soon is what they need to be devoting their time to.

Both Winston and Trubisky are being talked up quite high this offseason, with both likely to command decent attention when free agency begins. But the Panthers would be smart to stay out of that foolish bidding war and instead turn their attention to how they will continue to add to their team via free agency and then the draft in April.