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Panthers trade up to select DL Lee Hunter with 49th pick of 2026 draft
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- Panthers trade up to select DL Lee Hunter with 49th pick of 2026 draft
Lee Hunter
Carolina Panthers president of football operations and general manager Dan Morgan has made a leap in the second round yet again.
On Friday night, Morgan and the Panthers traded up from the 2026 NFL Draft's 51st overall pick—squeezing into the 49th spot previously vacated by the Minnesota Vikings . And with that selection, Carolina grabbed Texas Tech defensive lineman Lee Hunter.
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A Mobile, Ala. native, Hunter split his collegiate career between Auburn (2021) and Central Florida (2022 to 2024) before transferring to Lubbock in 2025. He'd go on to record 41 combined tackles and 2.5 sacks en route to first-team All-American and first-team All-Big 12 nods.
The 6-foot-3, 318-pound Hunter projects as nose tackle in Carolina's 3-4 front—joining 2025 free-agent signee Bobby Brown III and 2025 fifth-round pick Cam Jackson on the depth chart.
As for the trade, the Panthers received the 49th and 196th picks from Minnesota in exchange for the 51st and 159th picks.
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This article originally appeared on Panthers Wire: 2026 NFL Draft: Panthers select DL Lee Hunter with 49th overall pick
