Panthers Season Review (2017)

by Crimsion | 9 years ago | 2 Comments

The 2017 season was nothing to write home about for Carolina Panthers' fans. They found themselves down in the ditch sporting a 6-10 record and missing the post-season for the first time in 4 seasons. 

Carolina fell into a massive slump following a 28-13 loss to the New Orleans Saints in Week 9 in front of their home crowd. The Panthers then lost 7 of their next 9 games to close out the season, it was clear that this team was not themselves.

Cam Newton, the true leader of this talented squad, had one of his worst seasons to date. The now 29-year-old man under center threw more interceptions (23) than touchdowns (20) and was unable to generate any chemistry with receivers outside of his go-to, Kelvin Benjamin.

It's no surprise that the Panther offense struggled this past season with two of their biggest weapons going toe-to-toe with father time. The future for Greg Olsen in Carolina is very uncertain as the 11-year veteran was unable to eclipse 600 yards this season. Meanwhile feature back Johnathan Stewart, who is slated to enter his 11th NFL season, is in need of a new contract with his coming to an end this past week. 

The Panthers were forced to renew the contracts of 13 players this past week and picked up the tab on eight.

K - Graham Gano (3 Years - $11.7M [$2.7M Bonus] )

Gano wasn't used as much as the Panthers would have liked last season, attempting only 17 field goals on the year. The 10th year man out of Florida State found the uprights 14 times and didn't miss an extra point, Carolina will hope to benefit from his leg power this year.

RG - Trai Turner (4 Years - $17.2M [$5.2M Bonus] )

Trai Turner certainly earned himself this four-year extension as he was very efficent when it came to keeping Cam Newton upright inside the pocket. Turner started all 16 games this year and only allowed his match-up to get to the Quarterback on four occasions.

FS - Tre Boston (4 Years - $20.8M [$8M Bonus] )

Keeping their secondary together was Carolina's main priority during this re-sign phase and they did just that with the signing of Tre Boston. This North Carolina product was able to put up his third straight season where he recorded 5 interceptions, which happened to lead the team this past season with CB Josh Norman securing 5 of his own.

CB - Bene Benwikere (4 Years - $34M [$10M Bonus] )

The Panthers wanted to line-up nobody but Bene Benwikere alongside Josh Norman for the 2018 season. Benwikere did suffer an injury this past season, but was able to still search out 4 interceptions in his limited playing time. Carolina will need him to keep up his production if they want to return to the post-season next year.

HB - Johnathan Stewart (3 Years - $6.6M [$1.2M Bonus] )

Though he may have hit the hallmark age of 31, where most running backs hang it up or just aren't themselves, Stewart was able to put the critics on his back and run for 999 yards this past season. Now his starting job isn't anything close to safe with a much younger Angel McNeal behind him on the depth chart, but Stewart still has some gas left in the tank.

RE - Kony Ealy (4 Years - $5M [$1M Bonus] )

Kony Ealy may not have gotten many snaps last season but that is sure to change in 2018. With Mario Addisson (30) and Charles Johnson (32) getting a year older, the 26-year old may just find himself on the field more than not. Ealy found the Quarterback twice last season and the Panthers are hoping he'll be meeting opposing signal callers a lot more next season.