Carolina Panthers GM Dan Morgan on his draft class | The Insiders

0:00 If you're taking an offensive lineman in round one and he got

0:02 to bleep the first word out of his mouth on the phone call,

0:05 I'm going to take that as a good sign.

0:07 That wasn't it for the Panthers.

0:08 Monroe Freeling in the first round.

0:10 Lee Hunter in the second.

0:11 Check out the entire Panthers draft or maybe yet hear

0:14 more about it from the guy who made those draft picks.

0:17 GM Dan Morgan joining us right now here on the Insiders.

0:21 Dan, let's start right there with Monroe Freeland.

0:23 Okay, that there's a lot of different ways the board can go.

0:26 There's five offensive linemen that come off the board in the first 17 picks.

0:29 Take me inside the draft room as the Vikings are getting on the clock at 18.

0:33 What do you think your options are?

0:34 Are you worried about someone trading ahead of you?

0:36 Just how did you end up locking in freely in the 19?

0:40 Uh we were a little bit worried about

0:42 somebody trading up over us uh to get Monroe.

0:45 Uh so, you know, obviously when they didn't take him, we were super excited.

0:50 Um we didn't think he was going to be there.

0:52 Uh, so it was an easy pick for us.

0:55 Easy to turn the card in and feel good about the pick.

0:59 Um, to get a franchise left tackle at uh,

1:03 pick, you know, pick uh, 18 like we did.

1:07 I mean, it's uh, definitely a blessing and, you know,

1:11 we're super psyched about it.

1:12 I want to focus in on that spot right there.

1:15 Obviously, you have Ickey Ekwonu, uh,

1:17 one of your standout tackles who's dealing with an injury.

1:20 You have now Monroe Freeling uh who could

1:22 come and you have Rasheed Walker also a tackle.

1:25 You guys signed him free agency.

1:26 Kind of a sort of a surprising move.

1:28 First of all, how is Ickey?

1:30 Do you expect him to play this year and is feeling the kind

1:33 of guy who could come in year one and be on the field for you?

1:37 Yeah, Ickey he's making a lot of progress.

1:39 He's working his butt off down there in the training room.

1:43 The trainer training staff's doing a great job

1:46 with him and uh he's making progress every single day.

1:49 I don't have a timeline on that right now.

1:51 We're just going to take it day by day.

1:54 Uh in terms of Monroe, you know, he'll definitely he'll compete with Rasheed.

1:59 Um we were lucky to get him in free agency.

2:02 Another guy that we think really highly about a veteran

2:05 who's played a lot of games in this league.

2:08 So, we feel like we have a lot of optionality

2:11 there and looking forward to seeing those guys compete.

2:14 Listen, most guys taken in round one, they're going to be excited.

2:18 But, you know, you hear the words out of Monroe Freeland's mouth.

2:20 There's a lot of emotions staying in state and all those things.

2:23 But a few years ago, you might have been going to Carolina going,

2:26 I I don't know what kind of team I'm walking into.

2:28 I don't know who the quarterback's going to be.

2:30 I don't know how much we're going to be able to compete.

2:32 Coming off a division title, however you got it, having that momentum.

2:35 Just take me into like the state right

2:37 now in your mind of the Carolina Panthers.

2:39 Yeah, you know, we're excited.

2:41 We're really excited.

2:42 We feel like uh what we did in free agency this year, what we did in the draft,

2:47 I think it's going to set us up nicely going into the season.

2:50 Um I think that everybody in this building

2:53 knows that you have to put the work in.

2:56 You have to go earn everything.

2:57 Uh we got to earn our arrival.

2:59 Uh we only won eight games last year.

3:02 Uh we want to win more than that.

3:04 Um we're hungry for more than that.

3:07 So, you know, everybody in this building's committed to winning.

3:11 Uh, everybody's aligned in the mission and we're just going

3:14 to take it day by day and work our butts off.

3:16 I'm gonna take a look at this defense for a little bit because, you know,

3:20 obviously you guys added Lee Hunter, traded up,

3:22 I believe, in the second round to to add him.

3:24 I'd like to hear your thoughts on him,

3:25 but just in general, this defense, you know,

3:27 there was so much discussion after the season about were you guys going

3:31 to need a new defensive coordinator and where this defense was going to be.

3:35 you decided to invest a lot of money in premium players,

3:38 Jaelan Phillips, Devin Lloyd in free agency on that defense.

3:41 How do you view the state of this defense

3:44 and how much better have you guys gotten over the last,

3:46 let's say, four or five months?

3:48 Yeah, I feel like we've gotten better obviously

3:51 adding two talents like Jaelan and and Devin Lloyd.

3:54 Uh two guys that have played at a high

3:57 level and are really good football players.

3:59 They play with a high motor and the type

4:02 of intensity that we want from our defenders.

4:04 Um I definitely expect us to take a leap, but again, you know,

4:09 all these guys know they got to go earn everything and um

4:12 they're out there working hard right now in OTAs and you know,

4:16 the team's coming together creating that chemistry on defense.

4:19 Uh some new guys in the mix.

4:21 So yeah, we're excited about them and uh

4:24 we feel like we're headed in a good direction.

4:27 Let's talk about Bryce Young.

4:29 Since the time he got back into the lineup in 2024,

4:31 you've really seen the arrow pointing up on him as a quarterback.

4:35 The next question is always the contract.

4:37 If you're talking about quarterbacks, the top of the market,

4:39 it's 15% or more of your salary cap.

4:41 It's a big type of a commitment in your mind.

4:43 Is it a possibility you get something done with Bryce

4:46 in this off season or is that more likely a 2027 priority?

4:50 Uh, that's something, you know, here internally that we'll keep talking through.

4:54 We'll be in touch with Bryce's agent and, you know,

4:57 we'll we'll figure it out at the right time.

5:00 Right now, I know Bryce is focused on, you know,

5:02 getting better every single day and, you know, we obviously love him.

5:06 Uh, he's getting better year after year.

5:09 Uh, becoming a great leader for us and really,

5:13 uh, mastering Dave and and Brad Izzix's offense.

5:17 So, we're excited about Bryce.

5:19 uh when a contract happens, you know, we'll we'll see about that.

5:23 But, you know, we're excited about him and uh,

5:26 you know, our future here in uh 2026.

5:29 I'm going to go back quickly to the draft calls

5:33 that we listened to coming into this interview right before it started.

5:37 That was a pretty good one.

5:38 Um, especially the I love you at the end.

5:41 That was really excellent.

5:43 Those can become like really special iconic moments.

5:45 you get to be the one to deliver the first part of this news.

5:49 First of all, you know, you could sort of see your expression as you

5:53 were watching and listening to that first one.

5:56 Seem to be really enjoying it as we all do.

5:58 Are you nervous at all when you get on the phone?

6:00 Do you think about like, "All right,

6:01 this is going to be replayed a hundred times.

6:03 I better make sure to nail it." Like,

6:05 what goes into just those awesome, awesome phone calls?

6:08 I'm just excited, man.

6:10 Just really excited to call these guys.

6:12 Obviously, it's a lifelong dream.

6:14 I've been in that position that where I've been

6:17 called and you know it's almost surreal in a sense.

6:20 So you just want to make it as fun as possible for these guys

6:24 and have them enjoy the moment with their families and their friends.

6:27 Um but yeah, that was pretty funny when he said I love you at the end.

6:31 So we we got a good laugh out of that.

6:34 If you don't have I love you taped up

6:37 to his locker when he walks in for training camp.

6:40 Something's wrong.

6:40 wrong day.

6:41 You got to remind them every day, good times and bad times,

6:44 we still love each other and that's how the NFL works.

6:47 Dan, thanks a ton, buddy, for coming on the show.

6:50 We'll talk to you soon.

6:51 All right.

6:51 Thanks for having me.