The Panthers made enough moves in the first two weeks o

f free agency to get a sizeable portion of the fan base on board with the team’s direction." SB Nation FanPulseFanPulse: 94% of Panthers fans believe the team got better in free agencyNew Stitched J.J. Jansen Jersey ,19commentsThe Panthers made enough moves in the first two weeks of free agency to get a sizeable portion of the fan base on board with the team’s direction.EDTShare this storyShare this on FacebookShare this on TwitterShareAll sharing optionsShareAll sharing options for:FanPulse: 94% of Panthers fans believe the team got better in free agencyTwitterFacebookRedditPocketFlipboardEmailFree agency has only been active for a few weeks and we’ve already seen the Panthers be active participants, which is definitely something Panthers fans are not used to experiencing. As a result of the moves that Marty Hurney and co. have made, 94% of our FanPulse participants (You can sign up here to join in the fun!) believe the Panthers are better now than they were before free agency started.To recap, here are the free agency moves the Panthers have made so far:RetainedRB Cameron Artis-Payne, DE Bryan Cox Jr., QB Taylor Heinicke, RB Elijah Hood, S Colin Jones, TE Chris Manhertz Youth Mario Addison Jersey , LB Jared Norris, DE Efe Obada, S Damian Parms, S Eric Reid, OT Daryl WilliamsAddedDE Bruce Irvin, C Matt ParadisLostRB Kenjon Barner, WR Damiere Byrd, K Chandler Catanzaro, LB Thomas Davis Stitched Mario Addison Jersey , WR Devin Funchess, LB Ben Jacobs, OT Matt Kalil, C Ryan Kalil, LB David Mayo, CB Captain Munnerlyn, DE Julius PeppersA lot of the team’s moves have been to retain their own free agents. We saw the Panthers bring back guys like Colin Jones, Cameron Artis-Payne, Efe Obada Youth Cameron Artis-Payne Jersey , Jared Norris, Bryan Cox Jr. and Chris Manhertz to keep the team’s depth and/or special teams strong, and we brought Eric Reid and Daryl Williams back to start at key positions. Did your team get better in free agency?Saints — 96% Panthers — 94% Falcons — 76% Buccaneers — 53% (Percentage of fans who voted ‘yes’)The only two outside free agents the Panthers have signed so far are defensive end/outside linebacker Bruce Irvin (one-year, $4 million) and center Matt Paradis (three-year, $27 million). The Paradis deal has been lauded as a smart move by Pro Football Focus, and it gives the Panthers some much-needed stability on the interior of their offensive line. Some of the Panthers’ biggest transactions at the start of the new league year have been the subtractions. The Panthers cut ties with Matt Kalil, Captain Munnerlyn and Ben Jacobs (who was brought back on board as an assistant coach). They lost Thomas Davis, David Mayo and Devin Funchess to other teams in free agency, and lost veteran leaders Ryan Kalil and Julius Peppers to retirement.Still Stitched Cameron Artis-Payne Jersey , a majority of Panthers fans believe the team is better right now than it was two weeks ago. Retaining key free agents Eric Reid and Daryl Williams, as well as adding two outside players in Matt Paradis and Bruce Irvin certainly help the team fill holes on the roster and give the Panthers’ brass more flexibility in the upcoming draft to pick the best players available instead of reaching for a need and possibly over-drafting a prospect.My takeI’m not so sure the Panthers are better right now than they were two weeks ago. I think the additions of Irvin and Paradis are great moves that the team should be given credit for, but I also consider those moves a net-neutral in terms of the roster since Irvin ‘replaced’ Julius Peppers and Paradis ‘replaced’ Ryan Kalil. Losing Thomas Davis is going to hurt, especially since we also lost David Mayo and Ben Jacobs. We retained Jared Norris, but he is mostly a special teams player and because he’s only one person he doesn’t make up for losing three contributors. Shaq Thompson is still here as well and will be playing for a new contract, so that should mitigate some of the sting from losing Davis. My only concern for the linebackers is depth, but as long as the depth guys — Norris, Jermaine Carter and Andre Smith — step up, we should be okay there.I think bringing back Eric Reid was a smart move Youth Fozzy Whittaker Jersey , especially when you factor in what other teams have paid for safeties during free agency. I also think that bringing Daryl Williams back on a one-year ‘prove it’ deal was good business, but he doesn’t really improve the team’s offensive line depth since he’s basically replacing Matt Kalil. (Opinions about Kalil aside, the team needs depth at tackle, and with Kalil being gone the team has to go out and get a warm body to add to the roster.)The good news is there’s still plenty of time for the Panthers to get better. There are still plenty of free agents out there looking for work, and the NFL Draft is coming up soon. The Panthers currently have seven draft picks to work with, and if Marty Hurney plays his cards right he could come out of draft weekend with a handful of players to make this team ready to compete for the NFC South title in 2019 and beyond. Twitter shared their opinions of Marty Hurney’s first selection in the 2019 NFL Draft." Panthers 2019 NFL DraftTwitter reacts to the Carolina Panthers selection of Brian Burns at No. 16 overallNew,19commentsTwitter shared their opinions of Marty Hurney’s first selection in the 2019 NFL Draft.EDTShare this storyShare this on FacebookShare this on TwitterShareAll sharing optionsShareAll sharing options for:Twitter reacts to the Carolina Panthers selection of Brian Burns at No. 16 overallTwitterFacebookRedditPocketFlipboardEmailFirst I have to give a hat tip to Panthers beat writer Jourdan Rodrigue for nailing the Panthers pick in her mock draft.First up is some coach speak from Ron Rivera.Next up is Panthers general manager Marty Hurney describing his call to Brian Burns:‘Ol McLovin is a happy boy as well. There are pictures of him wearing Panther blue tonight because he had a feeling. Well he was right. Here’s the video proof.More from Hurney on Burns potential:The Panthers seem to know what Burns needs to work on to improve his game: Hey you have to love Burns production in college. Panthers.com has weighed in.Sweet! Here’s more from Rivera:To finish the sentence, ‘to play what the Panthers want in the 3-4 or 4-3 assignment.’ So there you go. Combine that with his production and he was the guy.Here’s a slightly surprising statement from Hurney:Wow...that’s linebacker weight for a 4-3 defense. We might see the 3-4 alignment even more than advertised. I can’t remember the last time the Panthers have had this kind of speed off the edge. That would take some adjustment for every Panthers opponent on the schedule.If Brian Burns was a Super Hero he would be...Put your favorite tweets in the comment thread.