Tuesday marked the first round of cuts around the NFL. In the first round of cuts the roster will go from 90 players to 85 players. The next cut day will take place after the second week of preseason, a week later. Five players will be released on the 24th of August. Those who make it through the first two cuts will have another opportunity to impress the coaches and make the final roster during practice and the last preseason game.
This afternoon, the Carolina Panthers traded offensive lineman Greg Little to the Miami Dolphins for a 7th round draft selection. In a separate move, the Panthers put second-year cornerback Troy Pride Jr. on injured reserve, with a knee injury.
Those two moves were surprises and along with that, the Panthers had to cut three additional players to bring their roster down from 90 to 85. To make that happen, Carolina released fullback Rod Smith, waived/injured Mike Panasiuk and waived/injured linebacker Nate Hall. Those three changes brought the roster down to the mandatory 85, along with Little being traded and Pride landing on injured reserve.
The Panthers were not done yet. Later Tuesday, after cutting the required five players, they made a sixth cut, offensive lineman Matt Kaskey.
Carolina waived/injured Kaskey, who left Sunday’s game against the Indianapolis Colts with a foot injury. He could not return to the game and head coach Matt Rhule said that more than likely, Kaskey would not be able to practice this week ahead of Saturday’s game against the Ravens.
Kaskey spent the majority of the 2020 season on Carolina’s practice squad. He joined the active roster in the season’s closing weeks and played in one single game.
The Carolina Panthers play the Baltimore Ravens on Saturday, August 21, on their home field, Bank of America Stadium at 7 p.m. EST in Week 2 of preseason action.
