Carolina Panthers spent over $150 million on top offensive linemen
The 2024 NFC South competition is going to come down to two teams, but one of the big aspects of this race to keep a close eye on is how they handle the inferior competition in the division.
The Saints have done nothing and stand to gain little throughout the rest of free agency and the draft. While those games are always dog fights for the Bucs, Tampa does look like the much better team on paper.
The Panthers are a bit of a different story. While they lack draft capital, they have done surprisingly-well at adding talent in as many ways as possible as they try to build a team around Bryce Young.
Dave Canales did help Baker Mayfield play the best football of his career. The Panthers were able to re-tool their offensive line with two high-profile signings. The defense was able to find some cost-effective signings to stem the bleeding of the loss of Brian Burns.
Is this team dominant? Certainly not. But there are some interesting similarities between where they are at this year and where the Cardinals were at last season. The Panthers aren't going to push anyone for the division, but they just might be the team that could decide who wins the division by stealing a game against the Bucs or the Falcons.
The Panthers aren't going to be legitimate threats to the Buccaneers for a while at their current rate, but their moves this offseason are worth keepig a close eye on, especially for the future.