The team has gone from a laughingstock to a team that people are looking forward to watching.
Up until recently, the Carolina Panthers had never established themselves as a mainstay in any particular segment of the NFL. The teams frequent oscillations in record prevented anyone outside of Carolina from having too strong or embedded opinion of the organization. Sometimes they were good, sometimes they were bad, but never did they move in either direction for long.
The last few years have changed that. A series of disastrous transactions and disastrous seasons made the Panthers the league’s punching bags. If a commentor or talking head needed to pull out a random team as an example of incompetence, the Panthers were it. They ran through a grab bag of mediocre quarterbacks and churned through coaching staffs like a restaurant churns through waitstaff. They appeared to be on a fast track to nowhere.
The last few months have changed that perception. The Panthers had competitive losses against some of the better teams in the league and stole a few wins down the stretch of the season. They’ve followed that with an offseason that’s received some rave review. Our old pal James Dator gave the Panthers an A- for their offseason and has them as a threat to win the NFC South. Pro Football Focus gave the Panthers an A. The only thing holding them short of an A+ was Carolina apparently not making changes to their coaching staff or front office, but one, they did make some changes on the staff, and two, why would they do that? Either way, it’s another reputable outlet that likes what the Panthers are building.
Cynthia Frelund’s simulations have the Panthers winning seven games, which isn’t great, but it still hits the over on the Panthers win total for the 2025 season. Rich Eisen listed the Panthers as one his breakout teams for 2025 and also thinks they can win the NFC South.
The @Panthers are 1 of 5 teams ready for a breakout in 2025 for @richeisen @RichEisenShow #KeepPounding pic.twitter.com/OvkI4cjVEL
— Keep Purring Podcast (Ben) (@KeepPurringBen) May 3, 2025
On the topic of betting odds, you have to go to over 8.5 wins before you get plus money on a Panthers win total (per DraftKings Sportsbook).
The Panthers probably aren’t quite ready to compete for meaningful silverware this season, but they’re trending in the right direction, and they’re doing so quickly enough to garner notice from national pundits that typically have a hard time remembering that the Panthers even exist. There’s no guarantee that things work out as well as people expect them to, but it’s refreshing to cruise through an offseason where the Panthers are being associated with things like competence and excitement instead of jokes and jeers. If they follow this offseason with more like it, maybe we’re not too far away from the franchise’s first back to back winning seasons.