This past season, the Carolina Panthers‘ defense struggled to get after the quarterback. Veterans Jadeveon Clowney and A’Shawn Robinson tied for the team lead with 5.5 sacks. As a whole, Carolina had just 32 sacks on the season.
That has them in the market for a new pass rusher, with someone capable of playing on the edge being their No. 1 priority. That’s why several EDGE prospects have been linked to them leading up to the 2025 NFL Draft. That said, they might not have to wait until then to find the solution.
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Carolina will have options in NFL free agency, including a Pro Bowler with 50.5 sacks on his résumé as Harold Landry was recently released by the Tennessee Titans.
A second-round pick in the 2018 NFL Draft, Landry has spent the past seven years with the Titans. He had a Pro Bowl campaign in 2021 when he recorded a career-high 75 tackles and 12 sacks. He then missed the entire 2022 season with a torn ACL.
Landry recovered from this and had 19.5 sacks the past two seasons. While he’s still performing at a high level, the Titans decided to make the move to save either $10.9 million in cap space — or $17.5 million if he’s designated as a post-June 1 cut.
Carolina has the cap space to make this signing work and it would dramatically improve their pass rush.
