The Carolina Panthers reloaded the bottom end of their depth chart at the wide receiver position today.
According to Alaina Getzenberg at the Charlotte Observer, the team has re-signed Brandon Zylstra to a one-year deal.
The Panthers have re-signed wide receiver Brandon Zylstra to a one-year deal, per source. He was set to become a restricted free agent, but Panthers bring back a special teams player and depth at WR. @JDunk12 first.
— Alaina Getzenberg (@agetzenberg) February 22, 2021
Zylstra only caught three passes for 35 yards last season. However, he became an important contributor on special teams. Zylstra was on the field for 245 (58%) of those snaps in 2020.
The Panthers are also re-signing wide receiver Keith Kirkwood according to Joe Person at the Athletic. His deal is also for one year.
In addition to Brandon Zylstra, Panthers also bringing back Keith Kirkwood on a one-year deal, per league source. Kirkwood was set to become a restricted free agent.
— Joe Person (@josephperson) February 22, 2021
Kirkwood only played one game last year due to injuries and caught one pass.
Both Kirkwood and Zylstra were about to become restricted free agents, making retaining them relatively cheap and easy.
By comparison it will likely be far more difficult to keep WR/RB Curtis Samuel. He’s coming off a career year and will be an unrestricted free agent in a few weeks if they don’t extend him or use the franchise tag.
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