The Panthers have made their decision at backup quarterback, releasing Garrett Gilbert and Kyle Allen and leaving Taylor Heinicke, who finished the preseason with a quarterback rating over 100, as the only passer on the roster alongside Cam Newton.
Releasing Gilbert and Allen was one of 20 moves made by the Panthers Saturday ahead of the NFL’s 4PM deadline to finalize their roster of 53.
But that 53 may not be quite the same list of players the team carries into next weekend’s matchup with the Dallas Cowboys – last season, the Panthers set their 53-man roster – and 24 hours later, claimed two players and sent fullback Alex Armah to the waiver wire. Expect the team to continue looking across the waiver wire for help in certain places, especially in the defensive secondary, where they only kept eight players – four safeties and four cornerbacks – after sending Kevon Seymour to IR with a shoulder injury.
Tackle Jeremiah Sirles was also sent to injured reserve after pulling his hamstring during the Panthers’ Week 3 win over the New England Patriots – the team has battled injuries along the offensive line all summer as they’ve lost Daryl Williams, Amini Silatolu and Matt Kalil to knee injuries over the past three weeks – with no time frame for those players to return, the team also traded a conditional seventh-round pick to the Detroit Lions for lineman Corey Robinson. Robinson started eight games over the past two seasons for the Lions and will add depth to a group that clearly needs it – it’s unclear if Silatolu or Kalil, both of whom made the initial roster along with Williams as opposed to injured reserve, will be ready for Dallas next Sunday.
The team released 2017 third-round pick Daeshon Hall in favor of defensive ends Efe Obada and Bryan Cox, Jr – Cox, an undrafted rookie who began the year on the practice squad, appeared in seven games last season and recovered a fumble in limited reps – the Nigerian-born Obada became the first player from the International Pathway Program to make a 53-man roster.
The only rookie from the 2018 draft class to not make the team was seventh-round pick Kendrick Norton, who had an uphill battle competing in the defensive tackle room with Vernon Butler and Kyle Love – undrafted rookie Brendan Mahon made the main roster and would appear to be the backup guard on both sides in the offensive line’s current injury-plagued configuration.
The team also elected to keep six wide receivers, which included Damiere Byrd – although Byrd may be a prime candidate for a trade in the mold of Kaelin Clay last season. The roster today is not necessarily the roster tomorrow. Check out the full list below:
Injured/Reserve:
| 23 | Barner, Kenjon | RB | 5-9 | 195 | 29 | $325k | 5 | Oregon |
| 18 | Byrd, Damiere | WR | 5-9 | 180 | 25 | $630k | 3 | South Carolina |
| 47 | Cockrell, Ross | CB | 6-0 | 190 | 26 | $2.6m | 5 | Duke |
| 9 | Gano, Graham | K | 6-2 | 202 | 31 | $3.43m | 9 | Florida State |
| 6 | Heinicke, Taylor | QB | 6-1 | 210 | 25 | $705k | 3 | Old Dominion |
| 30 | Hood, Elijah | RB | 5-11 | 230 | 22 | $480k | 1 | North Carolina |
| 75 | Kalil, Matt | LT | 6-7 | 315 | 29 | $6.9m | 7 | USC |
| 63 | Mahon, Brendan | G | 6-4 | 320 | 23 | $484k | R | Penn State |
| 52 | Norris, Jared | LB | 6-1 | 238 | 25 | $469k | 3 | Utah |
| 88 | Olsen, Greg | TE | 6-5 | 255 | 33 | $7.95m | 12 | Miami |
| 25 | Parms, Damian | S | 6-2 | 210 | 26 | $480k | 1 | Florida Atlantic |
| 27 | Seymour, Kevon | CB | 6-0 | 185 | 25 | $630k | 3 | USC |
| 65 | Silatolu, Amini | G | 6-4 | 305 | 30 | $720k | 6 | Midwestern State |
| 54 | Thompson, Shaq | LB | 6-0 | 230 | 24 | $2.8m | 4 | Washington |
| 43 | Whittaker, Fozzy | RB | 5-10 | 205 | 29 | $1.15m | 6 | Texas |
| 60 | Williams, Daryl | T | 6-6 | 330 | 26 | $2.04m | 4 | Oklahoma |
