The Carolina Panthers have been connected to a major offseason trade.
The Carolina Panthers made significant progress this season, winning the NFC South division title and even giving the Los Angeles Rams a run for their money in the Wild Card Round of the playoffs.
However, the Panthers still went just 8-9, so there is plenty of room for improvement.
While Carolina's most prominent holes are on the defensive side of the ball, the Panthers still have some work to do offensively, as well.
And that goes beyond Bryce Young.
With Rico Dowdle likely departing via free agency, Carolina will have to get its backfield situation sorted out. Chuba Hubbard seems primed to return to his role as starter, and Trevor Etienne may very well be the backup ... unless the Panthers make a major change to the running back position?
Bleacher Report's Alex Ballentine has listed Hubbard as one of Carolina's top three trade assets heading into the offseason, which comes a little over a year after the Panthers signed him to a four-year, $33.2 million contract extension.
Carolina Panthers running back Chuba Hubbard. Credit: Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images."Chuba Hubbard is only 26, but it's better to get rid of a running back too early than too late," Ballentine wrote. "He went from putting up 1,366 total yards and 11 touchdowns in 2024 to just 734 total yards and four touchdowns in 2025. That could pave the way for Hubbard to get a shot at a bigger role elsewhere potentially."
Hubbard kind of, sort of lost his job to Dowdle in the first half of the 2025 campaign due to a calf injury, and he never really recovered.
The former fourth-round pick rushed for just 511 yards and a touchdown on 3.8 yards per carry this past season, which followed a breakout 2024 in which Hubbard finished just shy of 1,200 yards on the ground.
Clearly, the Panthers thought they had their halfback of the future, which was why they extended Hubbard to begin with. But the fact of the matter is that Hubbard has been wildly inconsistent throughout his five-year NFL career and owns a rather pedestrian lifetime average of 4.1 yards per attempt.
If Carolina did trade Hubbard, it could then try to re-sign Dowdle (who also struggled late in the year after a torrid stretch earlier in the season). Or, the Panthers could go in an entirely different direction and draft a running back.
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