Panthers named best fit for 3-time Pro Bowl pass catcher

Could the Carolina Panthers make some room for a three-time Pro Bowl pass catcher?

NFL.com digital content editor Grant Gordon recently came up with the best fits for the league’s most notable remaining free agents. And with the Panthers having lacked some real receiving production out of their tight end room, he tabs the reigning NFC South champs as the top destination for Zach Ertz.

Ertz doesn’t want the final play of his phenomenal career to be tearing his ACL, and he’s set for his 14th NFL season with an expectancy of being cleared around the start of the 2026 campaign. Last season, Tommy Tremble and Ja’Tavion Sanders combined for 56 catches in Carolina. Ertz had 50 catches for Washington in 13 games. The last tight end with 50-plus catches in a season for the Panthers is calling games in the booth now — Greg Olsen (2019). Providing Bryce Young with a trusty veteran tight end in a pivotal campaign for the quarterback would be a boon for his confidence and maturation, and likely the same for a very young receiving corps.

Ertz doesn’t want the final play of his phenomenal career to be tearing his ACL, and he’s set for his 14th NFL season with an expectancy of being cleared around the start of the 2026 campaign. Last season, Tommy Tremble and Ja’Tavion Sanders combined for 56 catches in Carolina. Ertz had 50 catches for Washington in 13 games. The last tight end with 50-plus catches in a season for the Panthers is calling games in the booth now — Greg Olsen (2019). Providing Bryce Young with a trusty veteran tight end in a pivotal campaign for the quarterback would be a boon for his confidence and maturation, and likely the same for a very young receiving corps.

Along with that 50-catch mark, Olsen’s 2019 yielded the last campaign of at least 400 receiving yards for a Panthers tight end. The highest single-season total since then is 342 yards, amassed by Sanders in 2024.

Perhaps Ertz can change that, even at 35 years old. He’s played his last two seasons with the Commanders, having registered 654 yards and seven touchdowns in 2024 and 504 yards and four touchdowns over just 13 games in 2025.

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This article originally appeared on Panthers Wire: Panthers named best fit for 3-time Pro Bowl pass catcher