Over the past several weeks we’ve been assessing Dan Morgan’s performance in his second year on the job as general manager of the Carolina Panthers. We’ve reviewed his trades, scrutinized his free agent additions, and evaluated his 2025 draft performance, including Rounds 1-3 and Rounds 4-7.
It’s now time to roll everything up and give him a final grade for his rookie year. The way I grade is a “C” is “meets expectations”, so As and Bs exceeded expectations while anything below a C fell short of reasonable expectations. Here we go:
The Adam Thielen trade
The Panthers front office kept its powder dry on the trade front for the most part in 2025, executing just one player trade on the season. In August 2025 — just before the season began — Dan Morgan traded productive veteran wide receiver Adam Thielen back to his old home with the Minnesota Vikings. In return the Panthers moved up from the 7th round to the 5th round in 2026 and from the 5th round to the 4th round in 2027.
In the end, the Panthers would have been better off retaining their clearcut No. 2 receiver who had unmistakable chemistry with up-and-down quarterback Bryce Young. In two seasons in Carolina Thielen averaged just over five receptions and 60 yards per game. More importantly, he hauled in a remarkable 77.4% of his targets in 2024.
No other Panthers receiver stepped up and claimed the WR2 spot vacated by Thielen, which ultimately hindered Bryce Young’s development and weakened a Panthers team that ultimately made the playoffs.
Moving up a couple of rounds in the mid- to late-rounds of the NFL Draft wasn’t worth losing a highly productive veteran receiver from a surprise playoff team.
Trade grade: D+
The 2025 key free agents
Since the Panthers signed a host of free agents in 2025, I’m only grading Dan Morgan on the deals he made that exceed $5 million in average annual salary. These are the players the Panthers were expecting to make an impact, and Morgan put his money where his mouth was when signing these four key free agents:
Trevon Moehrig, safety – 3 years, $50 million ($17.1 million/yr), $34.5 million guaranteed. After Moehrig started 16 games and racked up 103 tackles with 14 tackles for loss and 3.0 sacks, he became the type of run-support safety the Panthers were hoping for in the secondary.
Tershawn Wharton, defensive tackle – 3 years, $45.1 million ($15 million/yr), $30.3 million guaranteed. Wharton’s first season in Carolina was derailed by injuries and he appeared in just nine games. In those nine games he registered a respectable 36 tackles and 2.0 sacks. While grading the play of interior defensive linemen is subjective, PFF ranked him No. 127 of 134 players at his position.
Patrick Jones, outside linebacker – 2 years, $15 million ($7.5 million/yr), $10.3 million guaranteed. Jones’s season was limited to just four games due to injury. We’ll have to wait until next year to see if this signing pays off, provided he isn’t released.
Bobby Brown, defensive tackle – 3 years, $21 million ($7.0 million/yr), $9.6 million guaranteed. Signing Brown was a solid move, especially given his age (25) and affordable $7.0 million average annual salary. In 2025 he started five of 17 games with 31 tackles, three tackles for loss, and 0.5 sacks. PFF graded him as No. 80 of 144 players at his position, which is just fine given all of the factors above.
Overall free agent grade: C+
2025 NFL Draft Rounds 1-3
All we can do is tip the cap to Dan Morgan for his performance in the first three rounds of the NFL Draft.
Tetairoa McMillan, WR – First round rookie Tetairoa McMillan exceeded 1,000 receiving yards and was named the Pro Football Writers of America’s rookie of the year, offensive rookie of the year, and a member of the all-rookie team. This pick was a home run.
Nic Scourton, OLB – In the second round Morgan moved up a few spots to land outside linebacker Nic Scourton at No. 51. The rookie had a really solid first season by starting eight of 17 games and registering 47 tackles, seven tackles for loss, 5.0 sacks, and 15 pressures. He tied Derrick Brown to lead the team in both sacks and pressures on the season. Scourton is looking like a great pick.
Princely Umanmielen, OLB – In Round 3 the Panthers drafted another outside linebacker in Princely Umanmielen at No. 77. Expectations for third round picks should be tempered, and Princely somewhat exceeded those expectations. He played 16 games as a rotational player, logging 222 snaps. His 24 tackles, 1.5 sacks, and five pressures were a decent enough season for a player drafted where he was.
Round 1-3 grade: A-
2025 NFL Draft Rounds 4-7
When evaluating mid- to late-round picks, it’s important to do so in context of what should reasonably be expected of them. Fourth rounders should be able to provide some limited rotational depth as rookies. Fifth and sixth round picks should make the roster and primarily contribute on special team. Any production for seventh-round rookies is gravy. With that in mind, Dan Morgan did quite well in the back half of the draft.
Travis Etienne, RB – Etienne was selected in the fourth round (No. 114) and while he only had 20 carries on the season, he made a positive impact on the team as the Panthers primary punt and kick returner.
Lathan Ransom, S – Ransom was another fourth rounder (No. 122) and he significantly exceeded expectations. He started six of 16 games and recorded 51 tackles. PFF graded him at No. 67 of 98 safeties, which is a great starting point for the No. 122 pick.
Cam Jackson, DT – Cam Jackson was one of Morgan’s two fifth round picks (No. 140) and he appeared in nine games, logging 85 defensive snaps and 30 on special teams. That’s a bit light for where the defensive tackle was drafted.
Mitchell Evans, TE – Mitchell Evans, on the other hand, had a great rookie season for a fifth round pick (No. 163). Evans seemingly came out of nowhere to push both Tommy Tremble and Ja’Tavion Sanders for snaps. In all, Mitchell played 393 offensive snaps — or 37% of the Panthers total – with 19 receptions for 171 yards and two touchdowns. That’s a fantastic debut season for the No. 163 pick.
Jimmy Horn, Jr. – Finally, Jimmy Horn Jr. rounded out the Panthers draft in the sixth round (No. 208). Horn also outpunched his draft status for a rookie wide receiver with 177 scrimmage yards over 13 games, including 11 receptions on 15 targets (73.3%) for 108 yards and eight carries for 69 more. He looked like he belonged in the NFL, which isn’t always the case for guys drafted after No. 200.
Rounds 4-7 grade: A-
The overall summary
While Dan Morgan might have whiffed on the Adam Thielen trade, it’s not going to set the franchise back in any real way, but neither will it move the team forward. This one trade isn’t nearly as impactful as the free agent and draft decisions he made in 2025, so we’ll mostly let this one slide.
Morgan’s biggest 2025 free agent signings mostly paid off (Moehrig, Brown) or were hard to evaluate due to injury. Tershawn Wharton will need to be both healthy and productive next year, but for now it was a slightly above average 2025 free agent class for the Panthers.
But where Dan Morgan and the Panthers front office excelled this past season was in the draft. Nearly every player either met or exceeded rookie expectations based on where they were drafted. Tet McMillan looks like a star. Nic Scourton looks like a legitimate starter. Umanmielen, Ransom, Evans, and Horn look like solid rotational pieces at worst. Etienne could be Carolina’s lead returner for years to come. What a haul!
When rolling everything together, Dan Morgan had a really solid 2025 as the Carolina Panthers general manager.
2025 final grade: B+