Panthers agree to terms with five

But landing Phillips and Lloyd provides upgrades to a defense that jumped from 32nd to 16th in the league in a season.

The 26-year-old Phillips adds the kind of elite pass-rush talent that isn’t often available at any price. He had 5.0 sacks last year with the midseason trade from Miami to Philadelphia, but he also had 61 quarterback pressures, which was 11th in the league.

The Panthers tied for 28th in the league in sacks last season with 30.0, and were led by rookie outside linebacker Nic Scourton and defensive tackle Derrick Brown with 5.0 each.