Panthers free-agent report card: Grading Panthers’ signings of Wonnum, Chaisson and Fuller

The Carolina Panthers have started to move on as they prepare for life without Brian Burns and Frankie Luvu.

General manager Dan Morgan added a pair of pass rushers, D.J. Wonnum and K’Lavon Chaisson, late last week, and those two defenders will be expected to pick up the sack slack left behind in the wake of the team’s two most notable offseason departures.

The team also added former Los Angeles Rams safety Jordan Fuller to the mix on a 1-year deal.

In our second report card of free agency, let’s grade those moves:

Panthers land D.J. Wonnum on 2-year deal

The Panthers invited Wonnum, Chase Young and Jadeveon Clowney for visits last week. While all three had future visits set up, Wonnum quickly agreed to a two-year deal with the Panthers.

The former South Carolina pass rusher is now, by default, the top pass rusher on the depth chart after one week of free agency. While there’s still a chance that either Clowney or Young signs with Carolina, Wonnum is at the top of a very uneasy totem pole right now.

In a vacuum, Wonnum’s addition is a shrew one. At just 26, Wonnum still has athletic and developmental upside. He also has starting experience, in particular at outside linebacker, and his stat output with heavy snaps (23 sacks in four seasons) is fine enough.

The organization appears to have taken a very specific strategy into free agency. The team is either signing players off their rookie contracts or adding players under 30 who have experience with the coaching staff. Instead of chasing proven but descending talent, Carolina is taking the long-term approach by going after young veterans who either have room for development or have an understanding of their philosophy or system.

Wonnum falls in the first bucket as a 2020 fourth-round pick coming off his first NFL deal. Wonnum was a full-time starter last season in Brian Flores’ 3-4 front, and he produced 8 sacks (same total as Burns) last year in 15 games (14 starts). Wonnum isn’t a Pro Bowl player, and he’s not on the same planet as Burns from a talent perspective, but he does have a solid mix of experience and untapped potential that is worth being somewhat excited about.

However, Wonnum greatly benefited from a situation where he had Marcus Davenport and Danielle Hunter around him. Wonnum wasn’t regularly double-teamed, and he had an underwhelming pass rush win rate despite his sack and pressure numbers. If Wonnum is all that the Panthers have at pass rusher this season, the outlook will remain grim at the position.

If he’s just a positive piece of a bigger plan, his addition is logical from philosophical and talent projection standpoints. Remember, the Panthers aren’t just a player or two away from contending, and while the Burns trade opened up significant cap space, the team also needs to gear up for long-term success with a less-than-stellar remaining pass rusher market.

Maybe they land Clowney or find a convenient trade with a cap-strapped squad — Haason Reddick is reportedly on the trade block in Philadelphia — but for now the Panthers are being calculated with their cap space under new executive vice president of football operations Brandt Tilis. This move makes sense, but they can’t be done with just Wonnum and Chaisson.

Grade: B

Carolina adds former first-round pick K’Lavon Chaisson

Listen, there’s no sugarcoating this: Chaisson was a first-round bust for the Jacksonville Jaguars. He lasted four seasons in Jacksonville, and given his production (or lack thereof), the length of that tenure was somewhat surprising.

The Panthers agreed to terms on a 1-year deal with Chaisson on Friday. According to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, the contract is worth up to $5 million. The guess here is that the deal is extremely incentive-driven from a financial perspective.

Chaisson, listed as 6-foot-3 and 245 pounds, had five sacks in four seasons. He’s not going to be the savior of the pass rush, but he could be a traits guy who is looking to prove himself. He will likely play on special teams and substitute into the outside linebacker rotation — on occasion — with Wonnum and a couple of other new recruits.

To be fair to the projected organizational philosophy, Chaisson fits the aforementioned outlook on free-agent talent.

In fact, he checks both boxes as a 24-year-old pass rusher with ties to the coaching staff as he comes off his rookie deal. Defensive line coach Todd Wash was in Jacksonville with Chassion during his rookie season as his defensive coordinator. While that might not mean much to a Panthers fan, it does say something about the process of targeting Chaisson. If Wash wasn’t a fan, he wouldn’t be here, for better or worse.

Morgan said in January that he wanted “dawgs” on his football team. We will see if Chaisson can live up to that mantle after four forgettable years in the AFC South.

Frankly, skepticism should be expected here. But to be fair, this writer all but wrote off Yetur Gross-Matos at this point last year, and he just signed a two-year, $18 million deal with the defending NFC champs after a relatively strong year as a rotational pass rusher.

This is truly a one-year flier. If Chaisson doesn’t work out or is just a special teams ace, there isn’t a ton of downside.

Grade: C-

Another reunion signing for Ejiro Evero

The Panthers signed Fuller to a 1-year deal on Friday. According to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, the pact is worth up to $5.25 million with incentives.

Like Chaisson, Fuller has experience with the defensive staff. And like Wonnum (and Chaisson), he’s a young veteran immediately coming off of his rookie contract.

Fuller spent two seasons working with defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero in Los Angeles. Evero was Fuller’s position coach early in his career in Los Angeles. Fuller also worked with cornerbacks coach Jonathan Cooley for the first three seasons of his career.

There are certainly worse strategies than taking a 1-year flier on a young veteran defender who has experience working with Panthers coaches. The 26-year-old defensive back also helps the team get younger at the starting position opposite Xavier Woods, who has dealt with a turnstile next to him over the past two years.

Vonn Bell was released last week before Fuller was brought in to seemingly replace him. Fuller is essentially following suit with Josey Jewell and A’Shawn Robinson as former pupils from Evero’s past. But unlike Jewell and Robinson, Fuller and Evero have shared a position room, so they have a strong understanding of each other’s strengths, weaknesses and approaches to their jobs.

The former sixth-round pick, listed as 6-2 and 203 pounds, has seven career interceptions. His ball-hawking skills should be an upgrade over Bell’s playmaking output from last year.

Again, the Panthers have been pretty deliberate with their approach to free agency, and Fuller is about as on point as it gets from a short-term outlook.

Grade: B+

Overall grade

The first wave of moves — from the Brian Burns trade to the acquisition of Diontae Johnson — scored as a B- with The Charlotte Observer last week.

This second wave also earns a B- with just three moves. But with the overall sum of its parts, the Panthers have further proven their resolve and strategy within free agency. There’s a very clear plan in place.

And as The Charlotte Observer reported on Friday, the Panthers plan to host former Los Angeles Chargers wide receiver Mike Williams this week. If Carolina can close on the former Clemson standout, its grade will only rise from here.

Overall grade for second wave: B-