In addition to Burns and Luvu, what other free agent questions do the Panthers need to answer?
As we look forward to the 2024 season, in the coming weeks we’ll ask 24 important questions that will shape the Panthers future.
How much will it cost to retain Frankie Luvu?
Stud linebacker Frankie Luvu just finished the last season of his 2-year, $9 million contract with the Panthers. Spotrac estimates Luvu’s market value at $11.2 million per season. If I was his agent, I’m pushing for more.
Getting Luvu signed to a fair, long-term deal should be Priority No. 1 for new GM Dan Morgan.
Luvu joined the Panthers in 2021 on a one-year contract after three seasons with the New York Jets. His first season in Carolina was solid. Despite playing just 24% of the team’s defensive snaps he still finished with 43 tackles and 1.5 sacks while wreaking general havoc on the field. Carolina’s front office saw enough from Frankie to re-sign him to a two-year, $9 million deal for 2022 and 2023.
That contract is up, and so is Luvu’s market value.
Frankie has been an absolute star in Carolina over the last two seasons with 236 tackles, 29 tackles for loss, and 12.5 sacks. Luvu is a violent tackler, a menace off the edge, and seemingly always in the middle of big stops and turnovers. Luvu is a Tasmanian Devil in shoulder pads. The sad reality is he would be a Pro Bowler if he played for just about any other team than the lowly Panthers.
While defensive tackle Derrick Brown has become the foundation of the Panthers defense, Frankie Luvu has become its heart. He needs to be signed to a long-term extension.
What’s up with Brian Burns’ contract negotiations?
If you care enough about the Panthers to be reading this article, you already know Burns wants to be paid like a top-tier defensive end but his production and impact don’t consistently reach that level.
As a first round pick back in 2019 the Panthers were able to pick up his fifth-year option in 2023 for $16 million. Former GM Scott Fitterer and Burns’ representatives were unable to agree on a contract extension starting in 2024.
Spotrac estimates Burns’ market value at $21.7 million. If Carolina can consistently get Pro Bowl level production from Burns at that salary then that’s just the cost of doing business. But after coming off a somewhat disappointing 2023 campaign in which PFF ranked him the No. 36 edge rusher in the league, that’s a hefty cap number for the Panthers to swallow if he doesn’t play like one of the best players at his position.
If GM Dan Morgan and Burns’ camp can’t reach a deal this offseason, the team will likely just place the franchise tag on him for 2024, buying another year to try to reach an agreement. The Panthers cannot let a 25-year-old two-time Pro Bowler to just walk.
In addition to Burns, what’s going on with the Panthers other defensive ends?
Both Marquis Haynes and Yetur Gross-Matos are also free agents.
Few Panthers players seem to produce more on a per-snap basis than Marquis Haynes. He was limited to just seven games in 2023 due to injury, but in the three prior seasons he racked up a total of 67 tackles, 14 tackles for loss, and 12 sacks as a rotational player. Haynes could be the annual winner of the Panthers “high production with a low cap hit” award.
Carolina would be wise to bring Haynes back to do the same in 2024.
Gross-Matos was a second round pick in 2020 but through four seasons has yet to prove he can be more than just a solid rotational piece. In 29 games over the last two years, including 23 starts, he has just seven sacks and 12 tackles for loss.
If the Panthers can bring YGM back in 2024 on a deal consistent with good-but-not-great defensive ends then they should get that deal done.
Who’s an “under the radar” free agent the Panthers should retain?
Wide receiver Laviska Shenault is the unheralded free agent the Panthers should not only re-sign, they should actively utilize more in 2024.
Shenault, a former 2020 second round pick by the Jacksonville Jaguars, just finished his second season with the Panthers. He was limited to just eight games in 2023 due to injury, but in his two campaigns in Carolina he has popped big plays with his ability to run after the catch.
In 21 games in Carolina he has 37 receptions on 42 targets for 332 yards and a touchdown. Most of Shenault’s targets are bubble screens as his average depth of target has been in the negative yards as a Panther so he actually has more yards after the catch (415) than total receiving yards (332) over the last two years. (Just re-read that stat because it’s kind of nuts).
He has also carried the ball 21 times for 120 yards and another score and can be a weapon with jet sweeps.
Carolina desperately needs playmakers and Laviska can be explosive with the ball in his hands. During his healthy 2022 season he had this electric 67-yard touchdown against the Saints and another 41-yard house call against the Falcons.
In 2023 former offensive coordinator Thomas Brown didn’t get the ball into Shenault’s hands enough. Given Bryce Young’s struggles in the passing game, having a productive gadget guy like Laviska brings value to the offense.
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