Panthers keep losing players before a game is played

Xavier Legette was carted off Tuesday with an upper body injury, the latest name added to a list that is getting long enough to constitute a roster crisis. The 2024 first-round pick joins Chris Brazzell II — who had season-ending surgery last week after tearing his LCL in a noncontact drill — on a wide receiver depth chart that was already one of the thinnest in the league heading into camp. David Moore is the nominal starter at 31 years old, and behind him the cupboard is essentially bare.

The wider injury picture is worse than any single position. Taylor Moton, the starting right tackle, remains out indefinitely with a blood clot in his lung. Nic Scourton tore his ACL on the first day of camp and is done for the year, gone from a linebacker group where starter Trevis Gipson was already a significant weak point last season. Ikem Ekwonu is out at left tackle. Mitchell Evans was carted off practice with a lower-body injury in late July. That is four meaningful contributors — across the offensive line, edge, and skill positions — who will not be available when the season opens.

What makes this particularly hard to absorb is the context. The 2025 Panthers went 8–9 and missed the playoffs, but they were genuinely competitive in close games and showed real identity at home. The problem was always depth — the roster had no margin for attrition. That margin has now been erased before a preseason snap. Tetairoa McMillan is healthy and cleared, which matters enormously for Bryce Young, but McMillan cannot play every position.

The wide receiver situation is the most acute short-term concern. Legette's status is unknown, Brazzell is done, and the depth behind Moore is untested. My read is that the front office needs to be active on the street right now — not eventually, not after the preseason shakes out. The offense was built to run through Young and McMillan, but a passing game needs more than two functional pieces to survive a 17-game season.