Panthers add OL depth, but risk losing momentum for promising young DL

Jeffrey Becker-USA TODAY Sports

The first news of the day was reported by Adam Schefter at ESPN, who confirmed with his agent that former Vikings third-round pick Pat Elflein intends to sign a three-year, $13.5 million deal with $6 million guaranteed.

Former Jets’ OL Pat Elflein reached agreement on a three-year, $13.5 million deal including $6 million fully guaranteed with the Carolina Panthers, per source.

Elflein’s agent, @FeinsodJonathan, confirmed his player intends to sign with Carolina.

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 15, 2021

On the surface, there’s some stuff to like about this signing.

The Panthers get a relatively young player (Elflein is just 26) who can play multiple positions along the offensive line. Given the team’s depth issues on the interior right now it makes sense to add a guy who can play either guard spot and eventually take over at center when Matt Paradis leaves.

$13.6 million isn’t a ton of money, either – and less than half of that is guaranteed, so it’s not like they used half their cap space on someone we project as a starting left guard for now.

All that said, this being the first move of the year is a bit disappointing. While he meets some of Carolina’s needs on the surface, the details are less encouraging. The Panthers will be Elflein’s third team in the NFL since he was drafted in 2017 and his pressure rate allowed has gone up every year.

Pat Elflein’s pressure rate allowed by season:

2020: 10.0%
2019:…