Kassidy Hill

CHARLOTTE To be perfectly honest, David Moore is just ready to get back to his cattle. He has a small herd of 10 cows currently back in Texas, and since it's calving season, there are some new babies on the ground he's anxious to check on soon. Moore is the primary ranch hand on his self-started 56-acre spread on the Lone Star State's north border, so taking an unforeseen day away from the land and his herd can set him back.

It's a day worth taking, though, to come sign a new contract, meaning the receiver will return to the Panthers for another year since it's in service of the man to whom Moore will feel forever indebted.

After an MCL injury suffered during the 2022 training camp with the Chicago Bears, Moore thought his career might be over. The following spring, his phone rang. It was Dave Canales asking the receiver who played under him in Seattle for four years if he was still interested in being on a team and if he'd be interested in coming down to Tampa and joining Canales with the Buccaneers.

He was.

When the coaching staff came to Charlotte, it wasn't long before Canales called Moore again. He wanted him back again.

In a career that can be fickle and unforgiving, having someone who believed in himcontinues to believe in himmeans everything.

"It actually means a lot," said Moore, settling back into his seat so he can fully dive into the relationship that has come to define his NFL career.

"I think about it quite often because, shoot, from the start, he was out there in Seattle. They (the staff) were the receiver coaches that drafted me and then just keeping me here. You know, wherever they wentwhen they were in Seattle, I was there. When they were in Tampa, I was there.

"So, it's kind of hard to put in words, but it's more than just football. It's kind of like a family thing; like me and Dave were always close, so me and (offensive coordinator) Brad (Idzik) got close as soon as he got to Seattle and just having those people with genuine relationships and you could tell that they genuinely care for you, not just on the field but off the field."

Bringing Moore to Charlotte paid off the second half of last season. The speedy veteran, who has been in this system for six seasons now (this fall will be his seventh), became a downfield threat for quarterbackBryce Youngas he experienced a second-half resurgence. Part of that was because he spread the ball around, never locking in on one receiver game-to-game but instead going to the open spot.

"Me and Bryce kind of got that little connection towards the end, towards the middle of the season. It's kind of easy playing with him on the field," explained Moore. "He's all over the place. You just got to find him."

Like a point guard?

"Oh yeah, for sure, and he can hoop too. I don't know if y'all knew that."

Moore finished the season with 32 receptions for 351 yards and three touchdowns. It was his performance versus Kansas City though, with six receptions for 81 yards and a touchdown, that Moore really saw what he and Young can do together and how he can continue to fit into this offense.

"That was my biggest game, my best game, probably last season for sure. It's numerous passes where I would look up, and the ball's already gone, like, 'Oh crap,' and it'd be right on the spot," Moore laughed. "So it's like, it's one of those trust throws, one of those things where you're not going to make those throws or plays if you don't do that in practice all the time.

"Repetition makes perfect, so the stuff that we were doing in practice, you could see it coming to life in the game, and it'd be numerous times I just coming out of my break and having to look up and go track it. But that was where, you know, all right, the trust is there. He knows this, and I just kind of fill in the play."

Moore's downfield threat and knowledge of the scheme is incalculable. But regardless of his box score each week, Moore knows the other reason he's here.As he explained to panthers.com back in October,he's here to protect his other herd. And every good rancher knows those put in his protection, which is why you'd often see him next toXavier Legettelast season, whether it was in the locker room or at a nearby rodeo.

"We have some younger guys that can really take off, and that's kind of what you want," Moore said. "You gotAdam Thielen, a guy that knows pretty much everything you need to know in the league. And then I guess you could say me, the next veteran, but I just like to keep people's mind and I don't like to talk too much but I just like to keep people all intact and keep everybody happy.

"The room can be really whatever you want to make it. If we want to be that fun receiving corps, we can do that. If we want to be that hard-nose receiving corps, we can do that. We can actually do whatever we want.

"We got the serious; we got the funny; we got the technician; we got the, I don't know what you could sayJalen Cokeris because X is the serious oneI say goofy, silly for Coke. I think you can go wherever we want it to go."

But for at least the next month, David Moore just wants to go back to his cows.

"I'm about to go back home and ranch some more. I'm actually about to get on this flight really soon, go back and put out some hay, check on the calves, look into buying more because April's rolling around, and, yeah, I'll be in Oklahoma also training, but yeah, mainly cattle ranching until I get back.

"It just keeps my mind calm, so that's my next month."