David Tepper praises Panthers progress, sees a playoff team now

“Yesterday, I said last year going into the year, we weren’t a playoff team, we were a team that could get to the playoffs. This year we are a playoff team,” Tepper said, after the Panthers won the NFC South title.

Tepper referenced a few important people in the front row, including general manager Dan Morgan, executive vice president of football operations Brandt Tilis, and head coach Dave Canales — who were there with quarterback Bryce Young and defensive tackle Derrick Brown.

“I’m excited about a lot of things,” Tepper said. “I’m excited about what we did in the draft. I’m excited about what we did in free agency. I think we have all the pieces. I’m excited to see those pieces come together. I said, we’ll see. I always like to say we’ll see.

“All kidding aside, but we have the pieces. It’s a matter of all the pieces coming together. Actually, the guy, he may be dead center there (Canales), the guy dead center probably has the most to say about it at this point, having the pieces coming together.