Even with easy schedule on paper, Pro Bowler's injury spells loads of trouble for Panthers

The Carolina Panthers finished with the worst record in the NFL in 2023 at 2-15 and looked just as bad as last year in their Week 1 defeat against the New Orleans Saints on Sunday, falling 47-10.

Things got significantly worse for Carolina on Monday morning when it was reported that defensive lineman Derrick Brown suffered a serious knee injury during Sunday's loss.

Brown has not only been the Panthers' best defensive player in recent seasons but arguably the team's best player on the entire roster as well. Fresh off his 2023 Pro Bowl season, Brown signed a four-year, $96M contract extension with Carolina in April.

The Panthers selected him out of Auburn with the seventh overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft and he's missed just one game during his pro career. Brown has registered 48 quarterback hits, 28 tackles for loss, 21 passes defensed, 8.0 sacks and two interceptions across his first 67 games.

The 26-year-old posted career highs in tackles (103) and quarterback hits (15) during his Pro Bowl campaign while adding seven tackles for loss, six passes defensed and 2.0 sacks as well.

Carolina has one of the easiest schedules in the NFL this season. The group won't play a team that made the postseason last winter until it comes out of a Week 11 bye and faces the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 12. That'll start a brutal four-game stretch, however, where quarterback Bryce Young and Co. take on four consecutive playoff teams from last season (Chiefs, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Philadelphia Eagles, Dallas Cowboys).

If the Panthers want to surpass last year's two regular-season wins, it may have to come in the first couple of months of the campaign. With Brown likely out for the foreseeable future, that task just got significantly more difficult.