The Carolina Panthers made their final decisions on Tuesday to bring them down to the mandatory final 53-man roster before the 4 p.m. ET deadline.
The last person to be released was RB Rodney Smith, Tuesday afternoon. Along with that move, cornerback A.J. Bouye was designated to the reserve/suspended list for the first two games of the regular season on a suspension that took place in the 2020 season.
The Panthers made several adjustments to their roster throughout Tuesday before the NFL’s deadline. They waived cornerback Rashaan Melvin and safety Kenny Robinson, waiving with injury designation running back Reggie Bonnafon and placing long snapper Thomas Fletcher (hip) on season-ending injured reserve.
Earlier Tuesday, the Panthers released veteran linebacker Josh Bynes, and also waived wide receiver Omar Bayless, running back Spencer Brown, quarterback Will Grier, defensive lineman Frank Herron, offensive lineman Mike Horton, cornerback Jalen Julius, wide receiver Keith Kirkwood, outside linebacker Christian Miller, offensive lineman Aaron Monteiro, wide receiver C.J. Saunders, tight end Stephen Sullivan, and offensive lineman Sam Tecklenburg. Over the last several day, many other players have been either waived, cut or traded.
After many organizational observations, evaluations and several days of cuts, the Panthers have their initial 53-man roster going into the 2021 regular season opener:
Quarterbacks (2): Sam Darnold, P.J. Walker
Running backs (3): Christian McCaffrey, Chuba Hubbard, Trenton Cannon
Fullback (1): Giovanni Ricci
Wide receivers (6): DJ Moore, Robby Anderson, Terrace Marshall Jr., David Moore, Brandon Zylstra, Shi Smith
Tight ends (4): Dan Arnold, Ian Thomas, Tommy Tremble, Colin Thompson
Offensive line (9): Cameron Erving, Pat Elflein, Matt Paradis, John Miller, Taylor Moton, Trent Scott, Dennis Daley, Brady Christensen, Deonte Brown
Defensive line (10): Brian Burns, Derrick Brown, DaQuan Jones, Morgan Fox, Yetur Gross-Matos, Marquis Haynes, Darryl Johnson, Daviyon Nixon, Bravvion Roy, Phil Hoskins
Linebackers (6):Shaq Thompson, Jermaine Carter Jr., Haason Reddick, Frankie Luvu, Julian Stanford, Clay Johnston
Defensive backs (9): Donte Jackson, Jaycee Horn, Jeremy Chinn, Juston Burris, Keith Taylor, Myles Hartsfield, Stantley Thomas-Oliver III, Sam Franklin, Sean Chandler
Specialists (3): Ryan Santoso, Joseph Charlton, J.J. Jansen
Nothing is written in stone, so there is a good possibility that leading up to their Week 1 matchup against the New York Jets, changes could still be made by the Panthers. There will be players that were let go from other organizations that will be of interest to management.
