When teams make the cut to 53 players around the league, teams scan the waiver wire for players who could help their roster and several of them often opt to make changes at kicker.
The Panthers could be on that list this year. Joey Slye missed his third kick of the preseason on Saturday and head coach Matt Rhule said in his postgame press conference that the three-year veteran has to step up.
“That’s like everything else,” Rhule said. “You have to produce and so far, Joey has not produced at the level we need him to. I think he would be the first guy to say that. We have to find a way to get over that hump with him.”
Rhule didn’t add that the Panthers will look elsewhere for someone who gets them over the hump if Slye’s work doesn’t show quick signs of improvement, but the nature of life as an NFL kicker means that it wasn’t necessary to be that explicit.