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Kenny Pickett - Ladypanther - 03-09-2026
IMO Dalton is done. Was getting killed out there....immobile target. Never want to see backup on the the field. If has has to come in...at least he has a better chance of running from the rush....I hope.
RE: Kenny Pickett - PantherFan007 - 03-09-2026
I like this! I always had high hopes for Kenny Pickett and still think he's arguably a "late bloomer" - ala Sam Darnold, but I don't think it will take that long.
Reports: Panthers agree to terms with quarterback Kenny Pickett
CHARLOTTE — The Panthers found a younger option at backup quarterback.
According to multiple reports, including from NFL Network, the Panthers agreed to terms with quarterback Kenny Pickett on Monday. Deals can't become official until Wednesday.
The 27-year-old was with the Raiders last season. A former first-round pick of the Steelers, he's also spent time with the Eagles and Browns.
Pickett won an ACC title in Bank of America Stadium with the University of Pittsburgh and was a Heisman finalist.
He's appeared in 36 games with 27 starts in his career, and has a 16-11 record as a starter (going 7-5 each of his first two years with the Steelers).
Here, he'll compete for the backup role, as general manager Dan Morgan said he wanted to create competition for veteran Andy Dalton.
RE: Kenny Pickett - PantherFan007 - 03-09-2026
Per Panthers.com:
5 things to know about pass-rusher Jaelan Phillips
CHARLOTTE — The Panthers have reportedly added a force on the edge. According to multiple reports, Carolina has agreed to terms with edge-rusher Jaelan Phillips. The veteran spent his first four and a half years with the Miami Dolphins before finishing his 2025 season with the Philadelphia Eagles.
From a winding career to an interesting life off the field, here are five fast facts about the Panthers' newest outside linebacker.
Has had a winding career
At only 26 years old (he'll be 27 by the time training camp begins), Phillips has already experienced a career that could be worthy of a movie. He was the nation's top high school recruit (more on that below) and spent his first two years in college at UCLA. But a string of injuries, ranging from an ankle injury to a concussion to getting hit by a car while riding a moped, all led to a tough stretch that Phillips said caused him to lose his joy for playing.
So, he medically retired from the game before his junior season. But his dad could tell he still wanted to play and encouraged him to return. He did so a year later at the University of Miami. He was forced to sit out the 2019 season due to NCAA transfer rules and played only one year with the Hurricanes, a COVID-shortened season in 2020.
It was enough for Phillips to make an impact. He was named a first-team All-American after finishing with 45 tackles, 8.0 sacks, and an interception, and was drafted by the Dolphins in the first round of the 2021 draft.
The Dolphins exercised his fifth-year option, but as the Eagles looked to bolster their pass-rushing corps in defense of their Super Bowl run last season, they traded for the pass-rusher.
Persevered in light of ups and downs
As mentioned, Phillips has experienced some injuries over the course of his career. There were the two ankle injuries and two concussions in college, in addition to the moped accident. Then he experienced back-to-back seasons with the Dolphins that were shortened due to injury: a non-contact Achilles injury in 2023 and a partial ACL tear in Week 4 of the 2024 season.
It was a reminder to Phillips, though, that he couldn't always control injuries, only his response to them.
"Life happens, and things are going to happen," Phillips told the Philadelphia Inquirer in 2025. "But at the end of the day, it's all about your perspective on it. How you deal with the adversity is really what separates the average from the great, and how you respond to that stuff.
"I think the biggest thing is being able to flip the perspective from feeling sorry for yourself or just fall into your adversity, or you could have the perspective of, This is going to make me stronger.' Really, anything in life that happens, good or bad, indifferent, you can take positives from it."
Flourished with the Eagles
After being traded to the Eagles, Phillips found a groove that helped his career and the Philly defense. In his opening game for the Eagles, the pass-rusher posted two quarterback hits, a fumble recovery, and a tackle for loss in a defensive 10-7 win.
He finished his eight games in Philadelphia with 28 tackles, four tackles for loss, 2.0 sacks (to combine with his 3.0 from Miami for 5.0 total on the season), as well as the fumble recovery and a career high four passes defensed. Phillips was also pushing the pocket and effecting the quarterback in multiple ways beyond just sacks. He finished with 61 quarterback pressures (11th in the league overall).
Was the nation's top recruit
Coming out of Redlands East Valley High School in Redlands, California, Jaelan Phillips was not only the top recruit in his state, or even at his position. He was the top recruit nationwide. Both ESPN and 247 had Phillips ranked as their composite No. 1 overall.
It was an interesting time for Phillips, who was trying to prove he could be good game in and game out, but was unable to, since teams were literally running away from him and to the opposite side of the field.
In turn, though, it created a linebacker who will willingly chase someone down from the opposite sideline.
"The better I got, the more dominant I was; people just started running away from me," Phillips reflected last season."So if I wanted to get tackles and stuff, I had to go chase the ball down on the other side. So I just started doing it, and it just became part of my game."
Studied music production
During the brief interlude when Phillips retired from football, he followed in his parents' footsteps and entered the music production industry. He began pursuing a degree in that field, and even after transferring to Miami, he continued his education at the school of music there.
To this day, he remains interested in production, working on his own music when football allows. His Jaelan Phillips Foundation also established the Jaelan Phillips Music Program at the Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center in Miami.
RE: Kenny Pickett - Ladypanther - 03-10-2026
The Panthers have agreed to terms with Kenny Pickett on a one-year deal worth a guaranteed $4 million, with incentives that could take it to $7.5 million, according to league sources. The 27-year-old Pickett was a first-round pick of the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2022, when former Panthers coach Matt Rhule and then-GM Scott Fitterer evaluated him before the draft.
Pickett went 14-10 in two seasons as the Steelers’ starter before spending the past two years as a backup in Philadelphia and Las Vegas. He has a career completion percentage of 62.2, with as many interceptions (16) as touchdowns (16).
After three seasons with Andy Dalton, the Panthers have been looking to get younger and more athletic at the QB2 spot behind Young. The team recently gave the 38-year-old Dalton permission to seek a trade, but nothing has materialized to this point.
With only minimal cap savings if they were to release him, the Panthers could choose to hold on to Dalton and have him compete with Pickett for the backup job.
How he fits
Pickett’s fit might not be as clear as the gloves he wears on his small-ish hands, which were a storyline before the 2022 draft. For one thing, the Panthers still have Dalton on the roster. But let’s get to that in the section below. Clearly, Dave Canales and his staff saw athleticism and upside in Pickett. Plus, he’s accustomed to the backup role and presumably will be OK sitting behind Young as the 2023 No. 1 pick enters his fourth season. The same might not have been true had the Panthers signed someone like Geno Smith, who was with Canales and offensive coordinator Brad Idzik in Seattle.
2026 roster impact
OK, this is where it gets kind of interesting. The Panthers wouldn’t have given Dalton permission to seek a trade if he was the clear favorite to keep the backup job for a fourth season. That’s obviously not the case. But coaches and players like Dalton, who started five games in 2024 after Canales benched Young in Week 2. Young eventually reclaimed the job after Dalton injured his thumb in a car accident. Because of cap implications (addressed below), the Panthers aren’t in any hurry to move on from Dalton. But there’s also a chance another quarterback enters the mix. GM Dan Morgan said at the combine he might double-dip at QB with one in free agency and the draft.
Cap update
Let’s start with Dalton. The Panthers clear $2.1 million in cap space by trading Dalton, and can create $2 million in cap room by cutting him with a post-June 1 designation. Releasing him before June 1 would create cap savings of only $151,331, with $5.7 million in dead money, according to Over the Cap. Pickett’s incentive-laden deal won’t create much of a strain on the cap. Even if Pickett hits his incentives, those would count against next year’s cap.
Person’s takeaway
I’ve been reporting for several weeks the Panthers were looking for a younger and more mobile QB. In Dalton’s lone start last year against Buffalo, he was unable to escape the pass rush in the Bills’ 40-9 win. Pickett underperformed his draft position in Pittsburgh, and hasn’t had a chance to do much since. Does he give the Panthers a better chance to win than Dalton in the event of an injury to Young? I guess. But Canales and company weren’t looking for a QB to challenge Young, whose future remains the most important issue facing the franchise. Pickett is a fine backup who figures to know his role.
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7102942/2026/03/09/kenny-pickett-panthers-nfl-free-agency-2026/
RE: Kenny Pickett - Ladypanther - 03-10-2026
Jets just got Geno. That may have been our best chance to get something for Andy. Unless....the Raiders now need a mentoring QB. Who they got now?