Carolina Panthers owner David Tepper stood next to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell on Thursday and made a case for Charlotte’s future as an NFL host city — a Super Bowl, maybe even a Draft, once the $1.3 billion renovation of Bank of America Stadium is finished. Goodell didn’t rule it out.
“I think that’s probably somewhere down the line in the future,” Goodell said on stage at the announcement, according to WBTV. “As far as the Super Bowl is concerned, there is no question that if this city keeps growing the way that it is it’s certainty Super Bowl quality.”
The event marked the official announcement that Tepper Sports and Entertainment is extending its naming-rights partnership with Bank of America for another 20 years, keeping the Panthers’ home stadium branded through the renovation and well beyond. Goodell also floated Charlotte as a potential home for the NFL Draft, noting the event now draws close to a million attendees. Tepper, for his part, sounded genuinely invested in what a home Super Bowl could mean for the city.
“It would be great to get into the Super Bowl here. It might be great if we have a Super Bowl here,” Tepper said, per WBTV. He went further, talking about what the stadium district could eventually become. “This stadium hopefully will be a new beginning in Charlotte. You hope that eventually more restaurants and clubs will get built. I’m not saying Brooklyn Village Avenue will be Broadway in Nashville, but you have the potential to grow that part of the city and make it more vibrant.”
The renovation, expected to wrap by 2030, has been the home of the Panthers since 1996. A new public preview space on South Church Street in Uptown Charlotte is now open so fans can see renderings of what the finished stadium will look like.
Training Camp Opened With Optimism — Then Took a Hit
The stadium news landed the same week the Panthers opened training camp, and it arrived at an awkward moment. Carolina reached the playoffs last season for the first time since 2017, won the NFC South, and pushed the Los Angeles Rams before falling in the wild-card round. That’s real progress for a franchise that hadn’t posted a winning season since 2017. But Thursday’s practice — the first of training camp — turned rough fast.
Second-year outside linebacker Nic Scourton went down on a wet field during team drills and was carted off. He was later diagnosed with a torn ACL in his right knee and is expected to miss the entire 2026 season, a person familiar with the situation told the Associated Press. Teammates surrounded him on the field before he left, several taking a knee in support.
“I’m just sick about it,” Panthers general manager Dan Morgan said Thursday night.
Scourton tied for the team lead in sacks as a rookie and was projected to start opposite free-agent addition Jaelan Phillips. Carolina now heads into the season without him, without starting cornerback Jaycee Horn — sidelined by a foot laceration that kept him out of Thursday’s practice — and without starting right tackle Taylor Moton, who is on the reserve/non-football injury list after a blood clot was found in his lung in late June.
The Offseason Additions Carolina Is Leaning On
All of that makes the Panthers’ offseason work look more important than it did a week ago. General manager Dan Morgan targeted the offensive line and running back room, adding veteran back AJ Dillon, signing center Luke Fortner away from New Orleans, and using a first-round pick on Georgia tackle Monroe Freeling — a group Carolina is now counting on more than expected, with both starting tackles out to open camp.
| Addition | Position | Path to Carolina |
|---|---|---|
| AJ Dillon | Running Back | Free agency, previously Packers/Eagles |
| Luke Fortner | Center | Free agency, previously Jaguars/Saints |
| Monroe Freeling | Offensive Tackle | 2026 first-round pick, Georgia |
There was better news at running back. Jonathon Brooks, who tore his ACL twice — once at Texas and again three games into his rookie season — took every rep of Thursday’s practice, his first full NFL camp session. Head coach Dave Canales came away encouraged.
“He feels great, he feels strong, he looks fast. He looks like the guy that I remember, and I’m really excited for that,” Canales told reporters, according to ClutchPoints. He added praise for Brooks’ persistence through two separate recoveries: “for a guy to go through things and be able to have the emotional and mental resiliency to go through that training twice to get himself back.”
Brooks will compete with Chuba Hubbard and Trevor Etienne for touches in a backfield that now includes Dillon as a power-running option — a room Carolina needed to get right after Rico Dowdle left in free agency.
What It Means Going Forward
None of this changes the Panthers’ timeline on the stadium. That project runs on its own 2030 clock regardless of how training camp goes. But it does mean Canales and Morgan are opening the season with a tougher roster puzzle than they expected a week ago — replacing a projected defensive starter, managing a cornerback’s recovery, and hoping two new offensive tackles are ready sooner than planned with both incumbents out.
Quarterback Bryce Young remains the biggest swing factor for how far this team goes, but the margin for error just got smaller. Carolina proved last season it could win a flawed division with a flawed record. Doing it again with holes at outside linebacker, cornerback, and both tackle spots to open camp is a different task.
