“Team captain” may be an even more exclusive title for the Carolina Panthers.
With the regular-season opener now officially less than one week away, the Panthers are getting closer to naming their team captains for the 2024 campaign. Head coach Dave Canales, who is in his first year at the helm, was asked how many of them he expects the locker room to have.
“I’d like to have three—representative from offense, defense and special teams, and we’ll have a rotational fourth player just week to week as we see fit,” he told reporters following Monday’s practice.
Three (and a rotational fourth) is a relatively low number for the position. The Panthers have tabbed at least six captains in each of the last four seasons, even going as high as eight in 2022.
The early favorites to nab the honors may be second-year quarterback Bryce Young, 10th-year linebacker Shaq Thompson and longtime long snapper JJ Jansen—who is in his 16th year with the franchise.
Canales stated that the captains will be announced on Wednesday.
