Do Panthers have NFL’s bleakest future?

The Carolina Panthers were supposedly entering a rebuild with the hiring of Matt Rhule in 2020. But, uh, well . . . what’s the opposite of a rebuild?

Two years into the Rhule regime and the Panthers seemed destined for more of an implosion than a reconstruction. As gauged down below by Pro Football Focus’ Arjun Menon, the only thing more sparse in Carolina than wins might be the team’s resources moving forward.

Menon, firstly, factors in win percentage—in which the Panthers nearly scraped the bottom of the league at .294. Then, he matched that against what he dubbed an “offseason composite score,” with Carolina besting just three other teams (Los Angeles Rams, San Francisco 49ers and Tennessee Titans) in all of football.

That composite is made up of the team’s value of draft picks, effective cap space and available prorated money for 2022. Here’s what the Panthers have, at the moment, in terms of upcoming draft capital:

• First-rounder (sixth overall)

• Fourth-rounder (from Los Angeles Rams via Houston Texans)

• Two fifth-rounders (own + from Jacksonville Jaguars via Minnesota Vikings)

• Sixth-rounder (from Las Vegas Raiders)

• Seventh-rounder (from Miami Dolphins via Tennessee Titans)

Additionally, they currently boast $14.3 million in effective cap space, which ranks 14th in the NFL. That number, however, will assuredly take some sort of in-house hit if the team decides to retain any of the following notable free agents:

• QB Cam Newton

• C Matt Paradis

• DE Haason Reddick

• DT DaQuan Jones

• LB Frankie Luvu

• CB Donte Jackson

• CB Stephon Gilmore

Oh, and they still don’t have a solution at quarterback and are missing about three-fifths of a passable offensive line.

Good luck there, Scott Fitterer.

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