The Panthers were eager to add former Broncos center Matt Paradis, for their one foray into outside free agency.
But his old team didn’t sound interested in investing him at all.
Via CBSSports.com, Broncos executive John Elway said he had “big concerns” about his former center’s medical report.
Paradis suffered a broken fibula in early November, and he said when he met with Panthers reporters last week that he expected to be cleared by June. The Broncos replaced him in the lineup with former fifth-round pick Connor McGovern.
“Connor is our center right now,” Elway said. “I think that obviously we didn’t want to lose Matt, but we had real concerns about the ankle. That is why that didn’t work out. I’m happy for Matt. I really am. I’m happy for Matt that he got the opportunity in Carolina. It had nothing to do with Matt’s ability, but we had big concerns about that ankle. Like I said, I’m happy for Matt that he got what he got from Carolina. I hope that works out for him.”
The Panthers gave Paradis a three-year, $27 million deal with $12 million guaranteed, with the anticipation of him replacing Ryan Kalil in the middle of the line. Having him healthy enough to do that would be a big first step.