After the Carolina Panthers lost Cade Mays in free agency to the Detroit Lions , the team opted to replace him with Luke Fortner .
Fortner comes over from the New Orleans Saints , where he started in 10 of 17 games last season. He served as a backup for the Jacksonville Jaguars the season prior, but was a full-time starter for Jacksonville in the two years before that.
While the signing of Fortner no doubt made sense at the time, the move is shaping up to be one that the Panthers might regret, and sooner rather than later.
Former New Orleans Saints guard Luke Fortner. | Stephen Lew-Imagn Images
After the Panthers signed Fortner in free agency, the team went on to take Sam Hecht in the fifth round of the 2026 NFL Draft, a selection that was considered a steal because Hecht was projected to go higher.
And it's not hard to see why early on, as Hecht is already threatening to take the starting job away from Fortner.
At OTAs, Panthers head coach Dave Canales said that Hecht has a "really good chance of coming in and starting," and our own Zach Roberts believes Hecht will ultimately be the starter at center.
"Speaking of Sam Hecht, he is probably on track to start at center as a rookie," Roberts said. "That was always possible after his draft selection, despite his surprising fall into the fifth round, but it's now a very likely outcome."
"Hecht looked comfortable up front, and he did enough to prove he's probably the better option over Luke Fortner, which is a huge win for a rookie and probably pretty good news for the Panthers' offensive line," Roberts added.
If Hecht goes on to win the starting job in training camp, it's possible Fortner won't play a single snap all season, which means the Panthers could've saved a few million bucks by not signing him, or they could've spent half on retaining Austin Corbett .
That might not sound like a lot of money, but it is for a team with just $8.5 million in cap space currently.
We'll find out soon enough who emerges as the Panthers' starting center for 2026, as Carolina will begin training camp on July 22.
This article was originally published on www.si.com/nfl/panthers/onsi as Carolina Panthers May Already Be Regretting Offseason Free Agent Signing .
