Now that free agency and the draft are over, attention shifts to the summer schedule.
All of the real fun offseason stuff as passed us by. There may be another free agent signing or two here and there, but for the most part, the roster is set. The Carolina Panthers shored up a bunch of holes on defense in free agency and started stockpiling some depth in the draft. With most of the roster construction done, we shift our focus towards more actual football. We’re still a few months away from the start of next season, but that doesn’t mean there are any shortage of dates to look forward to.
May
- May 9-10: Rookie minicamp
- May 14: NFL Schedule Reveal
- May 27-28, 30: OTAs
The incoming rookies get their first taste of Panthers football this weekend. Draft picks, undrafted free agents, and tryout players will be in the building to go through practices and get evaluated in a professional setting for the first time. Full fledged team activities will occur later this month.
In between that is the highly anticipated release of the schedule of games we already know are going to happen. We may know all of the teams the Panthers will play next season, but we don’t know the times. That’ll be revealed on the 14th.
June
- June 2-3, 5: OTAs
- June 10-12: Mandatory minicamp
There’s not a whole lot happening in June. There are a couple of dates regarding tenders for restricted free agents, but those rarely hold any significance. The OTAs are technically optional, but they’re de facto mandatory for most players just because of peer pressure and stuff. The actual mandatory minicamp will be held in the middle of June, and we’ll probably get some good updates on the progressions of rookies and a few camp superstars that’ll not amount to anything in the real games.
July
- July 15: Deadline for players on franchise tag to sign a multiyear contract
- Mid July (15 days before first preseason game): Training camp begins (rookies may have to report up to one week sooner)
- July 31: Hall of Fame Game between Chargers and Lions
The franchise tag is irrelevant to the Panthers since they didn’t elect to use it. We don’t know the official starting date for training camp; it’ll be about 15 days before the Panthers’ first preseason game (22 for rookies). That’d give us a starting date somewhere between July 23rd and July 26th.
August
- Second weekend of August: Preseason begins in full
We get (mostly real football) on the weekend spanning between Thursday August 7th and Sunday August 10th. We’ll find out sometime in the next few weeks when and who the Panthers will be playing.