Wide Receiver
Unless the rumors are way off, Devin Funchess will not be back with the Panthers in 2019. That is not to say he isn’t a good receiver, but he is going to be paid like a great one, and he isn’t that. For better or worse, 2019 is likely to be the season of Moore, Samuel and Wright, and it would be surprising – if not shocking – to see the Panthers invest significant cap space or draft capital on changing that.
However, this doesn’t mean that the Panthers aren’t without questions at wide receiver, as they need to make a decision on both whether to keep Torrey Smith and how to replace Funchess – and maybe Smith. So what should they do?
The question about Smith is really quite hard to answer, as it really comes down to how valuable his contribution off the field is. Smith is clearly a leader in the locker room and given the youthfulness of the Panthers’ receiving room, having an older head in the room does make a lot of sense. What doesn’t make a lot of sense is paying a 30-year old receiver coming off a season where he managed 17 catches for 190 yards off 30 targets $5m for a year – Smith’s contract is entirely non-guaranteed, the Panthers can get out of all of it if they so wish.
If they do release Smith, they may well look to bring him back, the question is likely not about whether they want him on the roster, but it will likely be hard to swallow his price tag when they are faced with what that might be able to get them elsewhere; it would, for example, pay for almost all of their 2019 draft picks salaries for next season.
The question then becomes how do they replace Funchess and maybe Smith. Much of this can be done by the other receivers on the roster – a major reason why the Panthers are unlikely to make a huge number of changes at receiver – but there is one area where they will be worse off.
The red zone.
The Panthers have struggled in the red zone for much of the second half of the season, and while that wasn’t helped by Cam’s injury, the decrease in playing time for Funchess is also likely to have played a part; without Funchess, the Panthers’ receiving corps is going to be made up of receivers who are 6’0 and under, and while this isn’t a problem for most of the field, in the red zone it creates issues in terms of spreading the field.
Some of the slack can be taken up by tight ends, especially if the Panthers look to add another receiving option at that position, but it would also not be a surprise for the Panthers to look for receivers in free agency who can offer an outside option in the red zone – this is not something they are likely to put significant cap space into, but they would be fools not to try and grab the best of what falls past the first few days of free agency.
Whether Damiere Byrd, Mose Frazier or a range of other names are going to make the 53 man roster are questions for August, but it will cost so little to bring them back for training camp that it would be a surprise to not see them on the 90 man roster. Receiver is not going to be anywhere near the top of the Panthers’ to-do list this offseason, but as with every year, the bottom spot or two on the roster could be in flux all the way through training camp.
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