After seven teams started offseason workouts last week, the rest of the league began their programs Monday.If there’s a constant thread between every team each year, it’s hope. Yes, even in places like Cleveland and Jacksonville. But in Carolina, at least one guy avoided getting caught up in the “rah-rah” stuff.Panthers tight end Greg Olsen wasn’t about to make any proclamations about a possible NFC South three-peat.“We have a lot of things that need to get done between now and February of next year, so to even start throwing those things out there is probably premature. I just think that’s a lot of hot air at this point,” Olsen said.”Everyone’s first goal is to win our division. The fact that we won it two years in a row has no bearing on our ability to win it this year. History probably says we’re going to have to be a little bit better than we were last year record-wise to win our division. That was kind of an outlier.”Since sneaking into the playoffs with a 7-8-1 record, the Panthers haven’t made many major changes. They’ve added free agents like offensive tackle Michael Oher and returner/receiver Ted Ginn, but it’s fair to wonder how much the roster has actually improved. But that’s where Olsen starts getting positive.Not only were the Panthers able to keep many of their own this offseason, but quarterback Cam Newton isn’t walking around in a boot like he was last spring.“Sometimes you don’t always get better by addition. Sometimes you just get better by continuity, keeping guys the same, and healthy guys that are coming back,” Olsen said. “I think sometimes they’re the same faces everybody sees, but there is still improvement from guy to guy, regardless if you’re in year one or year 10. That’s the nature of the NFL.”That continuity that we’ve been able to keep this year, if we can progress at the level that we think we can, I think that will provide great value for us and allow us to take the next step.”

NOTES:

• Olsen would have been going into the final year of his contract, but the three-year extension he signed last month ties him to Carolina through 2018.

Olsen: “I made it clear I didn’t want to be anywhere else. This is where I want to finish my career. I feel like I have a lot of years of good ball in me, and I wouldn’t want to play with another group of guys.

• The number of Pro Bowl tight ends in the NFC South has shrunk to one. After Olsen earned the honor for the first time last season, the Saints surprisingly dealt three-time Pro Bowler Jimmy Graham to Seattle last month.

Olsen: “You never expect a guy who’s the highest-paid guy at a position six months later to get traded … I’m glad we don’t have to play him twice.”