There are many Carolina Panthers who will take the next step in their NFL journey tomorrow at Bank of America Stadium, with the Panthers draft picks, undrafted free agents and certain returning players or offseason signings putting on the uniforms and participating in the first rookie mini-camp of the offseason. They’ll be joined by 28 tryout players, who are hoping to be invited to training camp, to perhaps make the practice squad or even the active roster of the Panthers. Below is the list of players who will be joining the Panthers eight draft picks, their undrafted free agents, five players from last year’s practice squad (tight end Evan Baylis, linebacker Richie Brown, wide receiver Austin Duke, safety Damian Parms and defensive end Efe Obada – the team has 91 spots on their roster due to Obada’s international player exemption) and RB Elijah Hood, T Korren Kirven and G Dorian Johnson, all players that signed this offseason:
| G | Kareem Are | 6-5 | 315 | 24 | 1 | Florida State | Elmont, N.Y. |
| DE | Sterling Bailey | 6-4 | 280 | 25 | 1 | Georgia | Gainesville, Ga. |
| LB | Zeek Bigger | 6-0 | 235 | 25 | 1 | East Carolina | Gastonia, N.C. |
| WR | Da’Ron Brown | 6-0 | 200 | 26 | 1 | Northern Illinois | Chicago, Ill. |
| CB | James Caine | 5-11 | 185 | 28 | 1 | Pittsburg State | St. Louis, Mo. |
| C | Lucas Crowley | 6-2 | 300 | 23 | 1 | North Carolina | Ponte Vedra, Fla. |
| TE | Steve Donatell | 6-5 | 240 | 24 | 1 | Western Kentucky | Highlands Ranch, Colo. |
| G | Quinterrius Eatmon | 6-6 | 315 | 26 | 1 | South Florida | Pritchard, Ala. |
| C | Kyle Friend | 6-0 | 295 | 24 | 1 | Temple | Carlisle, Pa. |
| CB | Ty Griffin | 5-11 | 195 | 22 | R | Oregon | Powder Springs, Ga. |
| WR | Dre Hall | 5-10 | 195 | 23 | R | North Alabama | Columbia, Tenn. |
| WR | Bug Howard | 6-4 | 220 | 23 | 1 | North Carolina | Rochelle, Ga. |
| FB | Joey Iosefa | 5-11 | 245 | 26 | 1 | Hawaii | American Samoa |
| DT | Merrick Jackson | 6-1 | 300 | 23 | R | Minnesota | Belleville, Ill. |
| S | Jarnor Jones | 6-3 | 205 | 24 | 1 | Iowa State | Lithonia, Ga. |
| OT | Landon Lechler | 6-7 | 310 | 24 | 1 | North Dakota State | Beach. N.D. |
| DT | Ashaad Mabry | 6-4 | 265 | 25 | 1 | Texas-San Antonio | San Antonio, Texas |
| WR | Phil Mayhue | 6-2 | 210 | 23 | R | Memphis | Sicklerville, N.J. |
| FB | Tyler McCloskey | 6-0 | 240 | 23 | 1 | Houston | Houston, Texas |
| QB | Marcus McDade | 6-2 | 225 | 26 | 1 | Sacramento State | Oakland, Calif. |
| LB | Jonathan Petersen | 6-0 | 240 | 25 | R | Michigan State | Miami, Fla. |
| RB | Kalif Phillips | 5-9 | 220 | 24 | 1 | Charlotte | Kannapolis, N.C. |
| G | Norman Price | 6-4 | 310 | 23 | 1 | Southern Miss | Vicksburg, Miss. |
| DE | Joby Saint Fleur | 6-4 | 250 | 25 | 1 | Northwestern Oklahoma St | Winter Haven, Fla. |
| DE | Karter Schult | 6-3 | 260 | 24 | 1 | Northern Iowa | Tripolo, Iowa |
| S | Malik Smith | 6-0 | 195 | 22 | 1 | San Diego State | Compton, Calif. |
| CB | Mike Stevens | 5-10 | 185 | 22 | R | North Carolina State | Charlotte, N.C. |
| CB | Brad Watson | 6-0 | 190 | 22 | 1 | Wake Forest | Round Rock, Texas |
The Panthers signed three invited tryout players to the roster last season and currently have four spots open on the 2018 roster. Ahead of the rookie mini-camp, five of the eight draft picks, in addition to all of the undrafted free agents, have signed their first NFL contracts with the team. While first-round pick DJ Moore, as well as LB Andre Smith and S Rashaan Gaulden, have not signed their deals as of yet, they’ll be participating in this weekend’s mini-camp; the rookie wage scale makes negotiations on a player’s first four-year deal minimal.
To see the salary cap hits for each player, check out our roster, which lists every salary cap hit available.
