The Panthers trimmed their roster to 53 players today, meaning a long list of players earned their walking papers:
Released:
Waived:
- TE Josh Babicz
- CB Kalon Barnes
- OL Deonte Brown
- CB Madre Harper
- CB Tae Hayes
- WR Ra’Shaun Henry
- DT Frank Herron
- OL Mike Horton
- DE Darryl Johnson
- DE Drew Jordan
- DE Austin Larkin
- RB John Lovett
- LB Arron Mosby
- WR Charleston Rambo
- S Kenny Robinson
- WR C.J. Saunders
- OL Sam Tecklenburg
- TE Colin Thompson
- LB Josh Watson
- WR Derek Wright
Waived/injured:
Placed on IR:
- K Zane Gonzalez (story)
- LB Julian Stanford
The most notable move was kicker Zane Gonzalez landing on injured reserve, making him ineligible to return for the 2022 campaign. Gonzalez injury himself on Friday night while warming up on the sideline. It was later revealed that he suffered a significant groin injury, and that injury ended up being season-ending. The Panthers worked out five potential replacements yesterday.
Juston Burris started 20 of his 23 games for the Panthers over the past two seasons. After collecting a career-high 53 tackles in 2020, the safety finished with only 23 tackles this past year, with Pro Football Focus ranking him 77th among 92 qualifying safeties. He was on the roster bubble following the offseason pickup of Xavier Woods. Brandon Zylstra has seen time in 37 games for the Panthers over the past three years, hauling in 29 receptions for 391 yards and one touchdown. Yesterday’s trade for Laviska Shenault Jr. only pushed him further down the depth chart, leading to his release.
