The Carolina Panthers will be without Tershawn Wharton for some time after he had a recent neck surgery.
Carolina Panthers head coach Dave Canales provided a health update on Tershawn Wharton.
Wharton will likely begin the summer on the physically unable to perform list, but he is expected to be able to play at some point during the 2026 season.
The Panthers will be without Wharton for some time after he had a recent neck surgery.
"Basically, it was about a week and a half ago, (he) just was feeling a little bit of discomfort and went in and talked to Denny (Kellington, the team's vice president of player health and performance), and Denny was like, this is something we should take a look at," Canales said. "They found some things that needed to be addressed from a surgical standpoint.
"Obviously, with the timetable of the season and all those things, this is something that needs to be done now, and he's recovering great, and we'll just take it week by week and see where he's at."
Wharton joined the Panthers last offseason in free agency after five years with the Kansas City Chiefs. The DT missed eight games last season with injuries. He finished with two sacks, 11 solo tackles, two tackles for loss and three QB hits.
Wharton won two Super Bowls with the Chiefs. He has 15.5 sacks, 67 solo tackles, 16 tackles for loss and 29 QB hits in his career.
Without Wharton, the Panthers will rely on Derrick Brown, Bobby Brown III, Cam Jackson and rookie Lee Hunter to begin next season.
"It's very important now, just depending on what the timeline looks like," Canales said. "And I don't have specific dates right now, but to get big young bodies into the program is always a good thing, with Monroe (Freeling, their first round pick), and then with Lee, right off the bat with the first two picks, quality players who we expect to be in the mix to compete to help our team. It was, philosophically speaking, the best available, absolutely. And then when these big, physical, violent players come along, we were really excited to be able to add those guys.
"And now in a different way, Lee, Cam Jackson, these guys that we've brought into our program are going to really need to step up for the guys in different roles."
The Panthers won the NFC South last season but lost to the Los Angeles Rams in the wild-card round of the 2026 playoffs at home.
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