After ranking dead last in the NFL both in terms of points and total offense allowed last season, the Carolina Panthers made it a top priority to bolster their defensive unit in free agency. They spent most of their resources on signing defensive free agents ahead of the NFL Draft, giving out lucrative deals to Raiders safety Tre'von Moehrig, edge defender Patrick Jones II, defensive linemen Bobby Brown III and Tershawn Wharton.
The investment in the defensive line was particularly noteworthy. The long-term deal for Wharton raised some eyebrows around the league as a potential overpay, but Panthers GM Dan Morgan clearly identified a weakness and wanted to waste no time addressing it.
This likely suggests that Carolina's defensive linemen from last season are now officially on thin ice. Veteran defender LaBryan Ray is among them.
The Panthers re-signed exclusive rights free agent DL LaBryan Ray early in the offseason but it's hard to imagine him having as big of a role as he did over the last two seasons in Carolina.
Injuries could obviously change the calculation but as things stand now, Ray is behind Derrick Brown, Tershawn Wharton, Shy Tuttle, A'Shawn Robinson, and Bobby Brown in the pecking order. The Panthers are likely to start Bobby Brown, Derrick Brown, and Wharton in their base defense with the rest of the linemen providing depth.
This makes sense considering how poor Ray was last season. Appearing in 16 games for the Panthers in 2024, Ray finished as one of the worst interior defensive linemen in the league per Pro Football Focus. After getting a 54.6 defensive grade in his first season in Carolina, Ray received a miserable 33.0 grade on PFF.
Unless he shows significant improvement in training camp and preseason, it's hard to see the 27-year-old getting much of a chance under head coach Dave Canales and DC Ejiro Evero next season.