Last July, the Panthers waived running back Tyler Gaffney with a knee injury that was going to force him to miss the entire season.
Carolina intended to put Gaffney on injured reserve, but didn’t want to hold the roster spot until they could do it without going through the waiver process. The Patriots didn’t mind doing that, claimed Gaffney and held onto the 2014 sixth-round pick until they could make the necessary transaction.
Now it’s the Patriots’ turn to wait and see if Gaffney clears waivers despite an injury. Ian Rapoport of NFL Media reports that Gaffney, who has been sidelined since early in camp, is going on waivers with an injured designation and that the Pats intend to stash him on injured reserve again this year if he goes unclaimed.
Gaffney ran for 1,709 yards and 21 touchdowns at Stanford in 2013, but it will be almost three years since his last meaningful on-field action if he is out until 2016.