In addition to going young in the kicking game, the Panthers have had to shelve a pair of young players they had hopes for this year.
The Panthers put promising wide receiver David Gettis on the reserve/PUP list, and cornerback Brandon Hogan on IR, as they were slow to recover from previous problems.
Gettis was coming off an ACL tear last year, but it was a hamstring that kept him from working out this season. Hogan, a 2011 fourth-round pick, was rarely on the practice field this year with knee problems, after a late-career ACL at West Virginia dropped his draft stock.
The Panthers also released veteran kicker Olindo Mare and punter Nick Harris, to make way for some degree of new kicker (Justin Medlock’s the one on the roster at the moment) and sixth-round pick Brad Nortman.
The Panthers also waived wide receivers Darvin Adams, Michael Avila, Brenton Bersin and Rico Wallace, running backs Josh Vaughan and Lyndon Rowells, tight end Greg Smith, guards Roger Allen and Will Blackwell and linebacker-defensive end Eric Norwood.
Norwood was a fourth-round pick in 2010, but hasn’t done much to justify that status, the kind of tweener that certain coaches fell in love with but didn’t have a position in the NFL.