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The most important x-factor for the Carolina Panthers defense in 2026 will be how the biggest free-agent contract of the offseason starts to pay off.
It's going to be difficult for outside linebacker Jaelan Phillips to live up to the four-year, $120 million deal he signed in March, and there is no shortage of analysts who believe that contract is bound to bust. However, there are others who believe the 27-year-old is about to step forward into the right direction.
Count Moe Moton at Bleacher Report in the latter camp. He has named Phillips to his list of seven edge rushers around the NFL who are on the verge of breaking out in 2026. Moton writes:
If not for injuries, Jaelan Phillips may have had his breakout season years ago. As a rookie, he showed immediate promise, logging 42 tackles (nine for loss), 8.5 sacks and 26 pressures. After a solid 2022 campaign, Phillips missed 22 games between 2023 and 2024 because of injuries, though he bounced back last year, despite some instability. The Miami Dolphins traded him to the Philadelphia Eagles. He finished the campaign with 53 tackles (seven for loss), five sacks and 35 pressures, one short of his single-season career high.
Phillips will have to generate plenty of pressures, hits and sacks on his own to justify his contract—but as Moton mentions, pass rushing is a team effort. Having Pro Bowler Derrick Brown and second-round pick Lee Hunter eat up space in the trenches will help—as will continued improvement from second-year outside 'backer Nic Scourton on the other side of the edge.
Whether that happens or not remains to be seen. One thing we do know about this defense is that if they're going to get pressure it will have to come from a four-man rush, because defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero blitzes about as rarely as any play-caller at this level.
Phillips has flashed some very high potential in the past—most notably in his first two seasons with the Miami Dolphins and the first half of the 2023 season before he got injured. If he can live up to that ceiling, Carolina's defense is going to be a serious force to be reckoned with.
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This article originally appeared on Panthers Wire: Panthers newcomer among NFL edge rushers on the verge of breaking out
