Panthers Clips
Panthers owner David Tepper’s team won the NFC South last season and he’s expecting more of the same in 2026.
During an event discussing the extension of a naming rights deal for Bank of America Stadium and the ongoing renovation of the building, Tepper was asked what a championship team looks like. His answer made it clear that he believes the Panthers should be vying for the top of the NFC this season.
“What we have here,” Tepper said, via the team’s website. “Yesterday, I said last year going into the year, we weren’t a playoff team, we were a team that could get to the playoffs. This year we are a playoff team.”
The Panthers won three more games in 2026 than they did in 2025 and won the division, so it’s realistic to expect the team to continue to improve in head coach Dave Canales’s third season at the helm. That expectation doesn’t come with any mandate, but failing to meet the owner’s view of how the season should play out would make for some questions about how the franchise would react to falling short.
Nic Scourton’s 2026 season is over.
The Panthers announced that they have placed Scourton on injured reserve on Friday. Scourton injured his right knee during the team’s first practice of training camp on Thursday and reports indicated that the linebacker tore his ACL. The Panthers did not confirm the nature of the injury, but moving him to season-ending injured reserve suggests that is the case.
Scourton had five sacks for Carolina as a rookie in 2025.
The Panthers also confirmed that they have signed 2026 UFL defensive player of the year Cam Gill. Gill had 11 sacks for Louisville this spring and will try to earn a role in Carolina’s plans to replace Scourton on their defense.
The Panthers also signed offensive tackle Derrell Bailey and waived guard Joshua Gray. Bailey went undrafted out of Georgia State this season.
The Panthers agreed to terms with outside linebacker Cam Gill earlier Thursday. They filled an open roster spot later in the day by signing free agent tight end Caden Prieskorn.
Prieskorn, 26, spent time with the Lions and Broncos during training camp in 2025. He was briefly on the practice squad of the Bucs and then the Browns.
Cleveland signed Prieskorn to a futures contract but cut him May 19.
He played college ball at Ole Miss and Memphis and was offensive MVP of the 2023 Peach Bowl after catching 10 passes for 136 yards and two touchdowns.
Panthers linebacker Nic Scourton is expected to miss the entire season after injuring his knee on the practice field today.
Scourton has been diagnosed with a torn ACL, according to NFL Network. The report says Scourton will seek a second opinion, but barring something surprising, he’ll have surgery and begin a long rehab process to get ready to play in 2027.
Reporters on the scene said Scourton and teammates were emotional as he was carted off the practice field, and it was clear that he had suffered a serious injury.
The 21-year-old Scourton was a second-round draft pick last year and had a promising rookie season for the Panthers, starting eight games in 2025.
The Panthers lost outside linebacker Nic Scourton to a right knee injury in the team’s first training camp practice on Thursday. They didn’t waste any time bringing in a replacement on the roster.
The Panthers have agreed to terms with Cam Gill, Greg Auman of Fox Sports reports.
Gill, 28, played for the Panthers in 2024, totaling 22 tackles and four quarterback hits in 10 games.
Gill most recently played for the United Football League’s Louisville Kings. He recorded a league-best 11 sacks in 10 games and won the league’s 2026 Defensive Player of the Year.
He has played 50 regular-season games in his career with the Bucs and Panthers, totaling 51 tackles and 2.5 sacks.
The first day of Panthers training camp saw running back Jonathon Brooks on the practice field.
That’s a significant development for the 2024 second-round pick. Brooks made a late debut as a rookie because he was recovering from a torn ACL and his run ended when he tore the same ACL again in his third game.
Brooks missed all of last season while recovering and said in April that he was feeling close to 100 percent after an extended rehab period. On Thursday, head coach Dave Canales said Brooks resembled the player that the team was so high on when he came out of Texas.
“Really looking forward to, just the hard work that JB has had to do over the last couple of years to get him to this point,” Canales said, via the team’s website. “He feels great. He feels strong. He looks fast; he looks like the guy that I remember, and I’m really excited for that. But more so just, for a guy to go through things and to be able to have the emotional and mental resiliency to go through that training twice, to get himself back, this is a celebration, and you can feel the gratitude in him; you can feel the focus and how important this opportunity is for him.”
The Panthers have Chuba Hubbard and Trevor Etienne back from last year’s team, but Rico Dowdle moved on to Pittsburgh after leading the team in rushing and that should leave the door open for Brooks to grab a share of the backfield work if he continues to impress the coaching staff.
Panthers outside linebacker Nic Scourton did suffer a right knee injury during the club’s first training camp practice on Thursday, head coach Dave Canales confirmed in his press conference after the session.
“They’re going to look at that and get some imaging, and we’ll let you know once we have more [information],” Canales said.
While the nature of the injury appeared serious given that Scourton was emotional as he was carted off the field, Canales did not want to speculate on its severity.
“I’m hoping for the best,” Canales said. “So, we’ll just get the full imaging before we make any announcements that way.”
If it turns out that Scourton will be out for a lengthy period, Canales noted he has confidence in the club’s group of edge rushers.
“We’ve got guys,” Canales said. “That’s why we keep bringing in depth, and talent, and different guys. You know, Jaelen Phillips is in that room, Pat Jones is back, Princely Umanmielen is coming along.
“We’ve got a whole group of guys that we’re counting on. So, if it comes to that, we have guys that we trust and are going to ask to do different things. But let’s hold off on that until we know what’s going on.”
It’s Carolina’s first day of training camp, and the club is already dealing with an injury to a key player.
Via multiple reporters on the scene, outside linebacker Nic Scourton suffered an apparent right knee injury during 11-on-11 drills. He was carted off of the field, albeit in the front seat.
Scourton was emotional as he left the field, with several players coming over to console him.
Scourton was a second-round pick last year and put together a solid rookie season, tallying 5.0 sacks, seven tackles for loss, and nine quarterback hits in 17 games. He was on the field for 68 percent of Carolina’s defensive snaps in 2025.
Panthers head coach Dave Canales is slated to speak to the media after practice concludes.
The Panthers have played at Bank of America Stadium since 2004 and they will continue playing there for years to come.
The team and the bank announced a multi-year extension of the naming rights agreement on Thursday. That agreement is one of the longest-running naming rights deals in the league and it comes as a significant renovation of the stadium takes place.
Funding for the project was established in 2024 when the city of Charlotte agreed to spend $650 million of the $800 million renovation. On Thursday, the Panthers announced that owner David Tepper will spend an additional $500 million toward the project. Tepper Sports and Entertainment has also agreed to pay for any overages in the now $1.3 billion venture.
“The long-term extension with Bank of America reflects the strength of our partnership and our shared commitment to the Carolinas,” Tepper said in a statement. “For over three decades, Bank of America Stadium has helped create lasting memories for our fans and we’re excited for them to see what’s ahead. Our goal is to create experiences that enhance the passion and energy of the region while transforming this corridor into a weekend destination for world-class sports, entertainment and community events.”
In addition to upgrading the stadium, the project will also include the construction of a 4,400-seat entertainment venue. The Panthers will remain at home through the renovation, which will focus on interior work in 2026 before moving on to fan-facing areas in 2027.
The Panthers are set to open the season without either of their starting offensive tackles from 2025, but General Manager Dan Morgan didn’t seem worried about that during a Wednesday press conference.
Carolina signed Rasheed Walker as a free agent in March because they knew left tackle Ikem Ekwonu had a long rehab ahead of him after tearing his patellar tendon, but news this week that right tackle Taylor Moton is dealing with a blood clot in his lung came as a surprise. Moton is expected to be out into the regular season and that puts first-round pick Monroe Freeling on track to start on that side of the offensive line.
Freeling played left tackle at Georgia and he appeared set to play an apprentice role as a rookie, but Morgan said he feels comfortable with how things are currently taking shape up front.
“I think we’ll be covered there,” Morgan said, via the team’s website. “We feel good about it, and I know T-Mo will definitely support Monroe there at right tackle and teach him all he knows. So, yeah, we feel good about it. I think that’s why depth matters so much in this league. And drafting Monroe and taking the best player available, it happened to be a tackle, it worked out really well for us. So we feel really good about him. We’re confident in him, and I know he’s going to attack it and he’s going to be out there competing.”
The Panthers also have a new center in Luke Fortner and the offensive line will have to gel over the coming weeks for the team to get off on the right foot come September.
