Training camp hasn't even kicked off in Carolina and the Panthers are already down their most important lineman. Adam Schefter reported Tuesday that starting right tackle Taylor Moton was diagnosed with a blood clot in his lung last month and is now expected to miss time well into the regular season.
Adam Schefter broke the news that Moton's blood clot diagnosis will cost him regular-season time.
Panthers starting right tackle Taylor Moton was diagnosed last month with a blood clot in his lung and he now is expected to miss time into the regular season. https://t.co/G3rfHIMq5j
This isn't a tweaked ankle or a training camp holdout. A blood clot in the lung is a legitimately scary medical situation, and per reporting Moton was found and diagnosed back in June, then put on blood thinners while the team's medical staff monitors him daily. He's reportedly responding well to treatment, which is the good news buried in an otherwise brutal update for Carolina.
The timing stings extra hard given who Moton is to this franchise. He's a 2017 second-round pick who has never played for anyone but the Panthers, and he's entering his 10th season as one of the most durable, respected tackles in the league. Carolina rewarded that loyalty with a 2-year, $44 million extension carrying $40 million guaranteed, locking him in through 2027. That's the kind of money and term you hand a guy you're building your offensive line around, not one you expect to watch from the sideline.
Moton is reportedly headed to the non-football injury list before camp opens, alongside cornerback Jaycee Horn, who's dealing with a foot issue of his own. Losing your blindside-adjacent anchor and a top corner to the NFI list in the same breath is not how you want to walk into camp, especially for a Panthers team still trying to figure out exactly what it has heading into year 2 of the Bryce Young era.
There's no firm return timeline yet, just the expectation that Moton misses time into the regular season. That leaves Carolina's staff scrambling to figure out right tackle depth on the fly, and it puts even more pressure on an offensive line that was already going to be under the microscope. For a team trying to protect its young quarterback and build some stability up front, this is about as unwelcome a headline as camp could open with.