Another lost year for the Carolina Panthers continues to show sporadic signs of hope for the future, as North Carolina sports betting goes through its first NFL season.
The NFC South squad snapped a four-game losing streak on Sunday, beating the Arizona Cardinals 36-30 in overtime to eliminate the visitors from playoff contention.
The Panthers improved to 4-11, though even that comes with a caveat. Namely, there are a lot of bad teams in the league this year, and Sunday's win might cost the Panthers a few spots in the 2025 NFL Draft.
At BetCarolina.com, where the top NC sportsbook promo codes reside, we used The Football Database to see which draft pick position teams get after starting 4-11 since the 2019 NFL season. We only calculated the first selection positions for each team, finding the average and median spots.
Outcome | Draft Position |
Average | 16 |
Median | 5 |
The NFC South has been so mediocre that the Panthers were only eliminated from playoff contention with Sunday’s defeat.
Carolina’s currently in line to land the seventh pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, according to Pro Football Focus. The top six picks in order, according to the website, would belong to the New York Giants, New England Patriots, Jacksonville Jaguars, Tennessee Titans, Cleveland Browns and Las Vegas Raiders.
The bet365 NC Sportsbook has odds on which team will have the worst record, with the Giants (2-13) now the heavy favorites at -450 odds with two games left.
Over the past few years, teams that started the year by losing 11 of 15 had an average pick at No. 16 and a median of No. 5. The only time Carolina drafted fifth overall was in 1995, when they selected Kerry Collins with the first pick in the expansion franchise's history. The Panthers have also drafted at No. 16 overall just once, selecting defensive end Brian Burns in 2019.
As for the immediate future, the Panthers are an underdog for their Week 17 game on Sunday against the host Tampa Bay Buccaneers. North Carolina sportsbook apps have installed the Bucs as about a touchdown-plus favorite, with the spread at 7.5 or 8 points depending on the sportsbook.
USA Today photo by Bob Donnan
Author
Christopher Boan is a lead writer at BetCarolina.com specializing in covering state issues. He has covered sports and sports betting in Arizona for more than seven years, including stops at ArizonaSports.com, the Tucson Weekly and the Green Valley News.
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