Carolina Panthers: 3 questions that still need answers

With free agency and the NFL Draft in the rearview mirror, we still don’t know the answers to several pressing questions about the 2020 Carolina Panthers.

The 2020 Carolina Panthers offseason has been a whirlwind of emotional changes. Gone are franchise stalwarts like Cam Newton, Luke Kuechly, and Ron Rivera. Free agency brought a new quarterback and the NFL Draft brought an influx of talent on the defensive side of the ball.

As the Panthers tore down an era, the rest of the division got better. The Buccaneers got a facelift, bringing in future Hall of Famer Tom Brady and pairing him with an old friend in Rob Gronkowski. The Falcons brought in offensive and defensive help in the form of Todd Gurley and Dante Fowler, while the Saints added Emmanuel Sanders and Cesar Ruiz to an already potent offense.

With a difficult division and a young roster, the Panthers are looking to the future rather than gearing up for a 2020 playoff run. Brady is 42, Drew Brees is 41 and Matt Ryan will be 35 when the season begins. The window for contention isn’t as long as people assume with these three quarterbacks at the helm. If the Panthers can build correctly over the next couple of seasons around head coach Matt Rhule, they could find themselves progressing while the rest of the division is restarting.

But with a new head coach, nearly an entirely revamped defense and a new quarterback at the helm, there are a ton of unknowns surrounding the current Panthers roster. While the additions through free agency and the draft might have answers some short-term questions, here are the questions we still need answered.