Delhomme's contract expires after the 2009 season and he's set to cost the team almost $11 million under this year's salary cap, which is why it would make sense to restructure that deal soon.

"There's nothing really new," Hurney said. "Jake is our starting quarterback and I think everyone knows how much we value him. Other than that we have conversations with a lot of players and their agents and that is no different. Obviously we want Jake to be here for the long term."

So why hasn't a deal been completed?

"I never get into any contract stuff ... But you just have conversations," Hurney said. "You can't put a timetable on anything really."

Hurney wouldn't say for how many years he'd like to extend Delhomme.

"I don't know. There are a lot of quarterbacks in that age range and you have to look at each case individually. But Jake is young for his age as far as playing and how many years he's played and his physical condition. I don't get into stuff like that much. We value Jake and obviously if something could work, you'd like it to."

--The defending NFC South champions open the 2009 season at home against the Philadelphia Eagles and play three nationally televised night games including a Monday night affair early in the season against the Dallas Cowboys.

The Panthers also play a Thursday night game at home against the Miami Dolphins and a Sunday night game against the Minnesota Vikings.

"It is a challenging schedule, as we knew it would be when we saw who we were playing," said head coach John Fox. "The NFC South is a very good division, so you know you are going to have a strong schedule before adding any other teams. The bye is earlier than last year, but it is after a Monday Night game on the road. Things can change a great deal during the course of a season, and our challenge is to put the best team we can on the field."

With seven games against '08 playoff teams, the Panthers face the NFL's second most difficult schedule.

The Panthers face playoff teams from last year in the opening two weeks, hosting Philadelphia in the regular season opener before going to Atlanta in Week Two.

Other playoff teams on the schedule are the NFC Champion Arizona Cardinals (Nov. 1), a rematch against the Falcons (Nov. 15), the Dolphins (Nov. 19), the Minnesota Vikings (Dec. 20), and the New York Giants (Dec. 27).

Based on last season's records, the Panthers opponents for the season had a combined record of 151-104-1 for a winning percentage of .592. Only the Dolphins' opponents had a better combined record at 152-104 for a winning percentage of .594.

The Panthers' only opponent with a losing record from last season is Buffalo (7-9). The members of the NFC South and the NFC East, all of whom the Panthers play, did not have a team with less than a .500 record.

--The Jason Kyle era could be coming to an end in Carolina.

The Panthers on Monday traded a conditional seventh-round draft choice in 2011 to Green Bay for long snapper J.J. Jansen. Jansen was a free agent rookie last year with the Packers, but spent the season on injured reserve after sustaining a knee injury in the preseason.

Jansen (6-2, 256) was a long snapper at Notre Dame and handled the snapping responsibilities for the Irish his last three seasons in college.

"He was going to be their long snapper as a rookie last year and he got hurt," said Panthers general manager Marty Hurney. "He tore his ACL in training and they signed another player who did well in his place."

It's a low-risk move for the Panthers as they won't have to pay the Packers a draft pick -- or Jansen his salary -- if he doesn't make the roster.

Kyle, who is an unrestricted free agent, spent the last eight seasons with the Panthers and never had a botched snap in the regular season. It's still possible the team could re-sign Kyle at a later date, but right now the team has no money to work with under the salary cap because of the nearly $17 million they have tied up in franchise player Julius Peppers.

QUOTE TO NOTE: "Jake has won a lot of games for us and his record (49-30 as a starter in the regular season) speaks for itself. Whether it's a cliche or not, I think you judge a quarterback by wins. And I think his win record speaks for itself." -- Panthers GM Marty Hurney on his support of Jake Delhomme as the team's starting QB this season.