Dynasty Fantasy Football Free Agency Preview 2026: Carolina Panthers

Not every playoff run is created equally. Because not every team is in the same spot in the cycle. For instance, the Buffalo Bills actually won a playoff game, but their season as viewed as a failure. That’s because they are squarely in the window to win now, and many are concerned it could be closing. Anything short of at least going to the big game was going to be viewed as a failure.

The Panthers, on the other hand, are still an up-and-coming team. Winning the NFC South is an accomplishment and a step in the right direction. Playing Matthew Stafford tough in a 34-31 loss is impressive. The fans hung around after the game to clap for the boys - and for good reason.

But now that the seal is broken. In 2027 and beyond, losing in the first round of the NFL playoffs is a major disappointment. There’s no more silver lining. The Carolina Panthers need to load up to compete, and that starts with free agency. So let’s take a look at the depth chart, the roster, the contracts, etc., to figure out what they should do here and how we might be able to take advantage in our dynasty fantasy football leagues. 

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*The salary cap numbers referenced in this article come courtesy of our friends over at Spotrac.com*

Carolina Panthers Depth Chart 2026 (Fantasy Football Relevant)

KEY

• White = free agent
• Green = role is safe
• Yellow =  role in flux
• Orange = likely a depth piece
• Red = roster spot not guaranteed

Carolina Panthers Free Agency 2026

• PROJECTED 2026 SALARIES: ~301.5M
• ESTIMATED 2026 CAP SPACE: ~$11.7M

Free Agent Types

Unrestricted free agent: Any player with four or more accrued seasons whose contract has expired. They are free to negotiate with any team.

Restricted free agent: A player with three accrued seasons and an expired contract. The CBA allowed for NFL teams to tender these players to one-year qualifying offers to retain them. Another team can sign them, but would need to provide the tendering team with compensation. In layman’s terms, if a new team signs a player, the current team can match it, or they receive the corresponding pick from the new team. These are the projected RFA tender levels per OverTheCap.com:

• 1st Round - $7,893,000
• 2nd Round - $5,658,000
• Right of First Refusal - $3,453,000

Exclusive rights free agent: Any player with fewer than three accrued seasons and an expired contract. If his original team offers him a one-year contract at the league minimum, the player cannot negotiate with other teams. If the team wants the player back, these contracts are a no-brainer, as the player either needs to play on the contract or sit out. 

Panthers Quarterback Depth Chart

Bryce Young: Bryce Young has shown that he is an NFL-caliber starting quarterback. Proving that he can win in the playoffs and compete for the Super Bowl is another task, but for now, he’s locked into this gig for the time being. That’s been confirmed by general manager Dan Morgan, who said the Panthers are picking up his fifth-year option.

As far as fantasy football goes, Bryce Young is a guy that I’m happy to have in super flex but not super pumped on for single QB leagues. In those, you need some sort of path to massive upside, and that comes via two paths: rushing ability or 40+ touchdown passes. We are looking for about five carries a game or 85 a season, and Young so far has maxed out at 54, so we’d need him to really up his pass game. 

Andy Dalton: Andy Dalton is an ideal backup. He is willing to mentor Bryce Young. He can step in and play replacement-level ball if needed. And he’s under contract for 2026. All set.

• Reserves/Futures: None

Panthers QB FREE AGENCY TAKE: They have their starter. They have a veteran backup who can play. They don’t really need to add speculative guys to compete or develop for the long term. They probably should add someone to the practice squad to help run scout and be the emergency third QB but it’s not really worth speculating on who that should be - maybe a late round rookie in the draft that you can groom into the next backup for when Dalton is done. 

• POSSIBLE FREE AGENT OPTIONS: N/A

Panthers Running Back Depth Chart

Chuba Hubbard: They love Chuba Hubbard. Not just the way he plays but the way he works - he’s an inspiration to other players. That’s part of why they locked him up with a long-term deal. There’s really no “out” of the contract until 2027 and, even then, the deal is reasonable as long as Hubbard is producing at a decent level. We also like Dave Canales and his scheme, which makes Hubbard an intriguing asset. 

Rico Dowdle: Rico Dowdle made some comments about how his decreased carries at the end of the season factor into free agency. Then he signed with a new agent. With Chuba on a long-term deal and Jonathon Brooks potentially returning, it makes sense that Dowdle would leave for more work and more money.

The question though is whether Dowdle is truly talented or whether he was more of a product of his environment. Even if they aren’t truly elite teams, the Cowboys and the Panthers both force-fed him at times and were competitive offenses. And Dave Canales has been known to get a lot out of his backs. Now is a pivotal decision point for Rico Dowdle in your dynasty leagues - check out our updated rankings if you’d like to know where we value him.  

Jonathon Brooks: Jonathan Brooks has an incredibly wide range of outcomes here. We’ve seen players suffer multiple serious injuries like this and never return to play. The value could be zero. We’ve also seen guys work their way through it, then have long, great careers. Frank Gore tore his ACL multiple times at a young age, then had one of the most prolific RB careers of all time.

For us, there is no sense in selling Brooks. You’re not going to get anywhere near the correct value for a guy who was the first RB off the board in his class. So we’re holding or, if anything, buying to take a flyer on upside at a discounted price. There are so few guys that have any shot at upside, you might as well give yourself a chance. 

Trevor Etienne: Just because we are in on Jonathon Brooks at his price doesn’t mean we should be out on Trevor Etienne either. If Brooks is a bust, Etienne could be the RB2 as early as this year. This is a profile we liked, including an NFL pedigree, given who his brother is. And though Chuba Hubbard is fairly “new” to his fantasy relevancy, he’s bounced around a bit so he actually turns 27 this June. We’re keeping Etienne stashed wherever we can in dynasty. He’s not only seen some action on offense but he returns punts and kicks so his roster spot on the Panthers is fairly secure. I mean, Etienne returned 51 punt/kicks, and no one else returned double digits.

• Reserves/Futures: Anthony Tyus, Montrell Johnson Jr

Panthers RB FREE AGENCY TAKE: The Panthers are actually pretty loaded at running back. If Jonathon Brooks is up to speed this year, it doesn’t even matter if Rico Dowdle leaves. The question, of course, is the health of Brooks. If Dowdle is gone and Brooks is a non-factor, they can’t just go into the year with two backs.

Let’s say hypothetically they want someone to be the RB2 ahead of Etienne, where they will keep him on special teams and develop him. Chubba is a well-rounded back, so you’d look for an affordable, well-rounded back as well. The draft is one way to go, but here are some names that wouldn’t break the bank. 

• POSSIBLE FREE AGENT OPTIONS: Kareem Hunt, Alexander Mattison, Khalil Herbert 

Panthers Wide Receiver Depth Chart

Tetairoa McMillan: Guys like Corey Davis and N’Keal Harry will forever have us nervous. But Tetairoa McMillan did everything asked of him - and he was asked to take on a tough assignment as the starting split end right away. He’s locked in at the top of the depth chart and should be a reliably startable fantasy asset for years to come. His upside, of course, will be tied to the success of the quarterback play, but like guys like Garrett Wilson, Chris Olave, Terry McLaurin etc., he has the talent to offer a solid floor. 

Jalen Coker: Technically, Coker is a free agent, but as an exclusive rights free agent, the Panthers can keep him for the veteran minimum without him being able to negotiate. So he’s locked in. But there’s more good news for Coker fans - head coach Dave Canales said that Coker will enter the offseason as the WR2 for the Panthers. Which is not surprising for those paying attention, as he returned from injury to overtake Xavier Legette for that job down the stretch. In the final two games, for instance, Coker played 92% and 88% of the snaps to 31% and 40% for Legette.

Now, entering the off-season as the WR2 does not mean that he’ll be exiting the offseason as the WR2. But it’s promising that the coach felt the need to mention his name at all. So he’s definitely a hold for us, skewing more towards buy than sell. 

Xavier Legette: We tried to warn folks of some of the shortcomings of Xavier Legette in this stat/film study we did last offseason. He really has some work to do at the catch point if he’s going to turn things around. It’s incredibly rare to have three fantasy-relevant pass-catchers even with the top quarterbacks so Legette is in a tough spot now. The best thing for him would be a change of scenery if someone is willing to make a trade here for the former first-round pick. 

Jimmy Horn Jr: We’ll put Jimmy Horn here because, of the depth guys, he’s the most likely to be back. Not only is he a decent slot prospect, but they are already mixing in the gadget plays with him, with 8 carries. Trevor Etienne has handled the work, but Horn also returned kicks and punts in college, including an 89-yard kick return TD. So he’s a good guy to have.

David Moore: David Moore suffered a dislocated elbow on a hip drop tackle in Week 4 that ended his season. Coaches like players like Moore because he has the versatility and size to play any of the roles in a backup capacity. He just turned 31, though, and he’s an unrestricted free agent, so it’s yet to be seen whether or not he’ll be back. 

Brycen Tremayne: Brycen Tremayne is an unrestricted free agent, but I would not be surprised to see him back with the team in 2026. Once upon a time, a Stanford graduate assistant named Brad Idzik told Tremayne he would “have a shot to compete” if he came to Stanford. So he went there. Now Brad Idzik is the offensive coordinator for the Panthers, and he recruited Tremayne to the team with the same message. So he feels like the kind of guy who will hang around the organization, especially since he contributes on four different special teams units. 

• Reserves/Futures: Ja’seem Reed, Ainias Smith

Panthers WR FREE AGENCY TAKE: With Tetairoa McMillan and Jalen Coker, the Panthers have the short to intermediate stuff covered. Coke actually led the team in slot snaps despite playing only 12 games, and McMillan is an entrenched split end. Assuming they are finally giving up on Xavier Legette, that leaves the speedy field-stretching element as the one that they are currently lacking. Here are some guys that could fit the mold there.  

• POSSIBLE FREE AGENT OPTIONS: Rashid Shaheed, Tyquan Thornton, Dyami Brown, Marquise Brown, Brandin Cooks

Panthers Tight End Depth Chart

Tommy Tremble: Tommy Tremble might have been a cut candidate with $6M in savings. But the serious ankle injury to Ja’Tavion Sanders is a little extra incentive to keep him around. And they will need to make that decision early, as Tremble has a $2M roster bonus that becomes guaranteed on the 5th day of the league year, which is March 16. 

Ja'Tavion Sanders: We don’t have much interest in Tommy Tremble for fantasy football. He’s a decent inline blocker, but not a huge difference maker in the pass game. Sanders is the one who has flashed in games where Tremble has been hurt, so he’s the guy we are most interested in stashing. He’s under contract through 2027 on a rookie deal, but will miss a bunch of the pre-season working his way back from a late-season broken ankle. We hope he can continue fighting for more work in 2026. 

Mitchell Evans: The rookie Mitchell Evans got his start primarily in a blocking capacity. He’s played ~88% of his snaps in an inline role and blocked on nearly 15% of pass plays. We’ve seen guys transition into more of pass-catching role as their career moves along (like Martellus Bennett) but it very rarely pans out that way. So, Evans isn’t a guy we are super excited about for fantasy football. He does play special teams, and he’s on a cheap rookie deal, so his roster spot is safe at least. 

James Mitchell: James Mitchell was even more of a blocking tight end than Mitchell Evans. He’s a restricted free agent, but I find it hard to believe that the Panthers would be willing to use a tender on him at $3.5M. So, if he’s going to be back in 2026, it will likely be on some cheaper depth deal. 

• Reserves/Futures: Bryce Pierre

Panthers TE FREE AGENCY TAKE: The Panthers are kind of in “no man’s land” at tight end. They technically have what they need between the blocking of Tremble/Evans and the pass-catching of Ja’Tavion Sanders. But do they want more? They might not, but if they do, it doesn’t make sense to really just bring in more middling talent or blockers. So, just for fun, here are the top names if they want to make a big splash. And no, I don’t think Travis Kelce would lead the Chiefs to play one final year with Bryce Young…

• POSSIBLE FREE AGENT OPTIONS: Kyle Pitts, David Njoku, Cade Otton

Dynasty Fantasy Football Rankings

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