NFC Notes: Dave Canales, Derek Carr, Kellen Moore, Panthers, Saints

Panthers 

Panthers HC Dave Canales said their ability to stop the run “needs to go way up,” and it will be a big focus of their offseason program. 

“Stop the run,” Canales said, via Darin Gantt of the team’s site. “A commitment to it, chasing the ball. That needs to go way up, the effort and the style of play.”

Canales said he “was not satisfied” with their defensive system and addressed needs by adding a slew of players like S Tre’von Moehrig, DLBobby Brown III, DL Tershawn Wharton, OLB Patrick Jones II and LB Christian Rozeboom.

“I was not satisfied with the style of our defensive football, first and foremost,” Canales said. “So that is just about effort, strain, and attempts on the ball, so we have to step that up. I’ll always be pushing the envelope on that weekly, but that’s something that came off the film. That’s why we addressed some of those positions in free agency and are excited about adding guys in the draft as well that can, first and foremost, put people into more passing situations and then more pass rush, whether it’s from blitzes or whether it’s from rotation.”

• GM Dan Morgan says Panthers are taking their time with the fifth-year option decision on LT Ikem Ekwonu. “We’re not going to rush, and we’ll have a plan in place.” (Joe Person)
• Morgan would not rule out adding a receiver in the draft but said: “I do think we feel good about our wide receiver room.”  (Mike Kaye)
• He also mentioned that he sees a talent drop off in wide receivers after the third round. (David Newton)
• Morgan referred to potential first round pick Jalon Walker as an outside linebacker should the team draft him. (Kaye)

Panthers

There have been some questions about Panthers DC Ejiro Evero following their poor defensive season. GM Dan Morgan explained they did a lot to build their defense with new players like DT Tershawn Wharton, DT Bobby Brown III, S Tre’von Moehrig, and LB Pat Jones II. 

“Like I said before, we were going to build our defensive front. I think we did that. We signed three guys there,” Morgan said, via Joe Person of The Athletic. “I think at each level — defensive line, linebacker, on the back end with Tre’von (Moehrig) — I think we addressed some needs that we have.”

Rams GM Les Snead highly praised Evero, who was an assistant in Los Angeles from 2017-2021.

“I’m a huge fan of him,” Snead said. “I don’t even want to call it smart that you take someone who’s had a lot more success than one bad year and keep him. It seems like that should just be doing your job, not, ‘Oh, OK, we’re going to now say we’re smart.’”

Snead thinks Evero’s body of work speaks for itself despite Carolina’s struggles last season. 

“To me it’s a body of work, especially if you can go through it and say, ‘Hey, there are some reasons why maybe the defense dropped off,’” Snead said. “Sometimes it’s not injuries. Sometimes it may be a rebuild or a retooling. And sometimes it may be, ‘Uh oh, the opponent’s got a little upper hand.’ Why don’t you let that person evolve versus start all over?”

Saints

New Orleans signed S Justin Reid and just missed out on CB Charvarius Ward due to a late push from the Colts. Despite their lack of cap flexibility compared to other teams, Saints HC Kellen Moore says they would have been able to acquire both players if it became a possibility.

“Free agency has a lot of conversations in a very short period of time and there’s a lot of overlap and so we felt like both of those players would’ve helped our team and we had the flexibility to handle that however we needed to,” Moore said, via ESPN’s Katherine Terrell.

After an offseason filled with uncertainty for QB Derek Carr, Moore talked about his excitement to get to work with the veteran quarterback through the offseason programs.

“I’m excited to have him back with us really shortly. Obviously April 14 we’ll start and I think that’s the fun part. These guys go through the offseason. They have a chance to spend time with their family, invest in all that, which is the right thing to do, and once you get back April 14, … football’s in the fold and it’ll be a great process.”

• Per Nick Underhill, the injury to Saints QB Derek Carr‘s shoulder isn’t new and is something that is still lingering from last season.
• Underhill adds that Carr and the Saints have been in communication about the injury situation for a while.