Panthers need – Greg Olsen says Carolina’s tight end group is functional and developing, but he believes the Panthers eventually need a top-tier, every-down threat to take pressure off their perimeter receivers and justify the team’s bigger investments.
Carolina has leaned on tight ends that do their jobs—just not in a way that ever forces defenses to game-plan around one unmistakable matchup problem.
Over the last handful of seasons, the Panthers have produced one of the league’s least productive tight end rooms. There hasn’t been a single tight end in Carolina to reach the 500-yard receiving mark since the 2019 campaign. And on Tuesday. Greg Olsen. the reigning NFC South champions’ greatest franchise tight end. was asked what he thinks the group can become now.
Olsen doesn’t sound panicked about the room itself. He framed it as a work in progress made up of multiple players still trying to hit their next level.
“I think it’s a young group. I still think it’s a solid group that’s gonna continue to kinda do the job and piece it together. ” Olsen said. “I think each guy probably has one element of the offense that he’s better at than the others. and I think that’s really what it’s been—it’s been kinda a position room by committee.”.
That committee. as Carolina’s current roster is structured. includes soon-to-be sixth-year veteran Tommy Tremble. 2024 fourth-round pick Ja’Tavion Sanders. and 2025 fifth-round pick Mitchell Evans. Tremble led the group this past season with 249 receiving yards, while Sanders and Evans contributed 190 and 171 yards, respectively.
Olsen’s bigger point came after that—when he moved from what’s happening now to what the Panthers may have to solve next if their offense wants to take the next step.
He said head coach Dave Canales and offensive coordinator Brad Idzik might not demand tight ends to be major pass-catching focal points from the start. But Olsen believes the team will eventually have to be honest about whether it has the kind of tight end who can change games—an every-down threat who can complement the perimeter and ease pressure on wideouts Carolina has invested heavily in.
“I think there’s still guys that are developing,” Olsen added. “At some point, you gotta look and be honest and say—ok, is there a top-tier guy?. Is there an every-down. every-play threat that we can develop at the position that is gonna be able to complement and take pressure off the perimeter receivers and the investments we’ve made in first-round picks with [Tetairoa] McMillan and [Xavier] Legette. and now this year with [Chris] Brazzell?”.
From there, Olsen connected the tight end to the bigger roster plan. He argued that as Carolina continues investing in wide receivers and also continues to build out the offensive line. finding the “last piece of the puzzle” at tight end could be what turns a good offense into one that hits defenses in more ways than one.
“So I think as they continue to invest in the wide receivers and continue to invest in the offensive line. and it does feel like the last piece of the puzzle is finding a true game-changer at the tight end position. ” Olsen said. “And that’s not to say that Tommy and those guys, Sanders, aren’t doing a good job. I think they are. I think they’re gonna continue to play the role that’s being asked of them.”.
Even within that “by committee” framing, there’s a clear statistical snapshot of what Tremble has meant so far. Tremble led all Carolina tight ends with 37 targets—sixth-highest on the team—and just 11 more than wide receiver Hunter Renfrow, who appeared in only six games.
The tension in Olsen’s take isn’t whether Carolina can use tight ends. It’s whether the Panthers can keep winning without eventually identifying—or developing—the kind of tight end who forces opponents to respect the middle of the field every single snap.
Carolina Panthers Greg Olsen tight end Tommy Tremble Ja'Tavion Sanders Mitchell Evans Dave Canales Brad Idzik Tetairoa McMillan Xavier Legette Chris Brazzell Hunter Renfrow