After Graham Gano was limited in practice with an injury to his left knee Thursday, the Panthers have signed veteran kicker Chandler Catanzaro to the active roster, placing offensive lineman Amini Silatolu, who had surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his knee and had not practiced this week with an injury, on injured reserve.
Silatolu had only been active once over the past seven games.
In the event that Gano can’t go Sunday against the Browns, the Panthers wanted to have an insurance policy and they obviously preferred Catanzaro after working out multiple kickers last week – Gano was icing his knee in the locker room in Tampa after the game last week; Gano made two extra points and a 37-yard field goal in that contest – he had missed one extra point and two field goals over the previous two weeks.
Catanzaro, who was released by Tampa Bay earlier this season, had made 11-of-15 field goals and 23-of-27 extra points this season, including a 59-yard game winner in overtime, the longest field goal in NFL overtime history.
He was released after missing two field goals against the Washington Redskins.
