His days as a linebacker may be long gone, but Carolina Panthers president of football operations and general manager Dan Morgan hasn’t lost his aggression.
On Thursday night, Morgan and his front office made their move—jumping into the first round of the 2024 NFL draft to select University of South Carolina wideout Xavier Legette. Morgan then began his post-pick presser by explaining why he came to the decision.
“Yeah, the fifth-year option is definitely important. I think, obviously, that was a big reason to trade up into the first round,” he said. “Besides the player, we loved Xavier. Everything he brought—not only as a person, but as a player. Like, his ability to attack the ball when it’s in the air, his ability to run with it after the catch, he’s big, he’s strong, he’s physical. Think he has a lot of upside. So we wanted to take that opportunity to go get our guy.”
The trade, one that was struck with the Buffalo Bills, bumped the Panthers up from Pick No. 33 to Pick No. 32. Legette, as a first-round pick, will now have the all-important fifth-year option attached to his rookie deal—giving the organization a bit of flexibility with his future.
Morgan continued.
“I think once the wideouts were taken—Brian Thomas was taken and then I felt like there was gonna be a little run on wideouts after that,” he stated. “Then Xavier Worthy got taken. And we liked some of those guys and with Xavier [Legette] out there, we were just like—we don’t wanna put ourself in a bad situation to where we’re not gonna be able to get the guy we wanna get. He was our target, we really liked him and we went and got him.”
Well, he really was their guy after all.
