The Panthers spent the offseason watching wide receivers leave the team as free agents or with a pink slip, but they didn’t do much to address those departures with outside additions in free agency.
With their first pick in the draft, the Panthers got Cam Newton some help. Carolina made Florida State wide receiver Kelvin Benjamin the 28th pick of the 2014 Draft.
Benjamin is a much bigger target for Newton than the departed Steve Smith. Benjamin is 6-5 and 235 pounds, size that allows him to win a lot of battles in the air for passes and he could develop into a serious weapon for the team to use in the red zone. He’s not a finished product, but the Panthers will probably have him hone his rough edges on the field because there aren’t too many other options.
Panthers General Manager Dave Gettleman said before the draft that wide receiver was a big need, but one he’d pass up if a blue goose was sitting there. We’ll see if he was able to get both.