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The return of OT Cameron Erving swings the Panthers’ current roster to 71 players.
On Tuesday morning, the Carolina Panthers officially announced the return of offensive tackle Cameron Erving—a move first reported by ESPN’s Adam Schefter about 12 hours prior.
So now that their swing tackle is back in the swing of things, let’s take a look at the team’s updated roster as it currently stands.
According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the Carolina Panthers are bringing OT Cameron Erving back on a one-year deal.
The Carolina Panthers and general manager Scott Fitterer finally got their swing tackle. Well, perhaps you can just say they got their swing tackle back.
As first reported by ESPN senior NFL insider Adam Schefter on Monday night, the Panthers are re-signing offensive lineman Cameron Erving to a one-year deal.
Former first-round pick Cam Erving, who spent the past two seasons in Carolina, is re-signing with the Panthers on a one-year deal, per source.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) May 9, 2023
Erving originally cracked into the NFL with the Cleveland Browns, as the 19th overall selection of the 2015 draft. The Florida State University product, however, would last just two seasons there—starting in 17 of a possible 29 games.
He was then traded to the Kansas City Chiefs on Aug. 30, 2017 for a fifth-round pick. Erving played three seasons under head coach Andy Reid, capping off his stint with a Super Bowl ring from the 2019 campaign before moving on to the Dallas Cowboys in 2020.
The 6-foot-5, 315-pounder then signed off to the Panthers on a two-year, $10 million pact in 2021. He’s played in 20 games over the last two seasons in Carolina and will continue to serve as a versatile depth option for the starting front.
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Despite fielding their best offensive line in years, the Panthers may have to beef up their trench a tiny bit to start the 2023 campaign.
For the first time in a long time, the offensive line isn’t at least one of the Carolina Panthers’ most embarrassing weaknesses. But that doesn’t mean they don’t have work to do there this offseason.
Here are four free-agent linemen the Panthers should consider signing.
This week’s snap count standouts for the Panthers feature a little bit of everything—including Sam Franklin Jr., who did a little bit of everything.
The Carolina Panthers are starting to settle in to their sweet spot under interim head coach Steve Wilks. The competitiveness is always present, the success is more frequent and the roles of the players are becoming more defined.
That was evident in their snap counts throughout the Week 12 win over the Denver Broncos, where we have three standouts from each phase of the ball.
According to Ellis L. Williams of The Charlotte Observer, there are people within the Panthers’ organization who are 100 percent behind starting Ikem Ekwonu at LT right away.
This past Thursday night, the Carolina Panthers invested one heck of an asset into North Carolina State University’s Ikem Ekwonu. That, however, doesn’t necessarily mean the 2022 NFL draft’s sixth overall pick is guaranteed the job many thought he was selected for.
Even with Ekwonu now in the fold, head coach Matt Rhule could still go a number of ways at the left tackle position—at least for the upcoming campaign. As the promising 21-year-old continues to develop his craft, possibly pushing him into the inside of the line come Week 1, Brady Christensen and Cameron Erving may remain options for the Panthers on the blindside.
But, these are all ifs here on May 4. And, according to Ellis L. Williams of The Charlotte Observer, there may be no ifs, ands or buts about who Carolina really wants to man that spot right away.
“I think there’s a really good chance,” Williams said of Ekwonu’s outlook as the Day 1 starter on Tuesday’s edition of The Nick Wilson Show. “I’m comfortable with putting it over 70 percent. I know there’s people inside that building who would say there’s a 100 percent chance of it.”
Although Ickey is still a work-in-progress as a pass protector, that’s not to say he won’t be effective in holding up against NFL edge rushers. In fact, Pro Football Focus charged him with just three sacks over 500 pass-blocking snaps in 2021.
For our early projection of what the Panthers’ offensive line could look like to start the campaign, we’d say bet on Ekwonu to undertake those all-important duties. That’ll likely leave Christensen at left guard, Bradley Bozeman at center, Austin Corbett at right guard, Taylor Moton at right tackle and Erving at left out.
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They didn’t pick them, but the Panthers are guilty of picking up two of the biggest draft disappointments in recent memory.
The Carolina Panthers are proving that one team’s trash is another team’s . . . trash.
In setting out to determine which recent NFL draft prospects have fallen the shortest of their respective expectations, ESPN senior NFL reporter Jeremy Fowler pooled together the opinions of numerous league officials to get some perspective. Fowler went to scouts, executives and coaches, asking them to name one player from the past 15 or so years who they thought would “be great,” but just wasn’t.
And although the Panthers aren’t direct culprits of picking any of the 15 featured busts, they are guilty of picking them up off the street after their failed tenures.
One of which, obviously, is quarterback Sam Darnold. Darnold, who Carolina acquired in 2020 for second and fourth-round selections they won’t have for next weekend, was drafted by the New York Jets at the third overall spot in 2018.
“Coming out of USC, Darnold appeared poised to solidify the Jets’ quarterback position once and for all,” Fowler writes. “The team shipped the No. 6 pick and three second-rounders to Indianapolis for the right to take Darnold at No. 3. Some around the league believed wholeheartedly in that move and are still hopeful. One NFC exec went as far as to say Darnold let him down a little, largely because he ‘loved the guy’ coming out of college.”
Sam has probably let a lot of folks in the game down, as he’s thrown just 54 touchdowns to 52 interceptions (along with 29 fumbles) in 50 career games. He certainly wasn’t the answer in New York, who has since pivoted to Zach Wilson, and he likely won’t be it in Carolina either.
But is there some hope left? Fowler continued:
“‘Even though it didn’t work out last year, that’s still not a bad move for Carolina,’ added a separate NFC exec. “His story isn’t totally written.”
A story that’s almost written up there as well is the one of offensive lineman Cameron Erving. Like Darnold, Erving joined the team last spring in hopes of solidifying of premium position and, well, just hasn’t.
The Florida State Seminole was plucked from the 2015 draft by the Cleveland Browns with the 19th overall pick and lands himself next to his current quarterback on this list.
“‘He never really got to settle down in one spot,’ an AFC executive said. ‘Cleveland probably wasn’t the best spot for him. Too much transition there. There were some toughness questions, but he could have overcome those.'”
Erving has suited up for four teams over his seven professional seasons. Unfortunately for him, he probably won’t get to settle down in Charlotte either, as the Panthers have clearly moved on in trying to find more than just a bandage for their blindside.
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With the NFL draft right around the corner, retrospective looks back make sense. How did Gilbert, Erving end up not living up to their draft position?
With the NFL draft now less than a week away but a majority of analysis related to this draft class completed, retrospective looks at the draft history are interesting. Earlier we covered ESPN’s look at the last decade of drafts and how each team has fared during that timeframe. Not surprisingly, the Cleveland Browns were near the bottom of the league.
While the last few years have gone much better for the team with players like Myles Garrett, Denzel Ward, Nick Chubb, Jedrick Wills and Greg Newsome II, it is hard to overcome the significant, continuous busts from earlier in the decade.
While quarterbacks like Brandon Weeden and Johnny Manziel will always be the main focus, the Browns have had busts from all over the map. ESPN took a look at a few misses (subscriber, $) and tried to explain why they happened. Not surprisingly, two of Cleveland’s picks made the list:
Justin Gilbert, CB (No. 8 in 2014)
What he was supposed to be: A shutdown corner with length and quickness
What he became: The classic NFL bust
In attempting to explain how things went wrong, outside of a quick note about a drinking concern, notes about maturity and drive came up. His college coach had some pre-draft concerns:
Former Oklahoma State defensive backs coach Van Malone told teams during the pre-draft process that Gilbert needed direction and a strong support system. When Gilbert told Malone about his turbulent rookie year in Cleveland, Malone admitted he might have treated him like a kid sometimes. The NFL won’t do that, he reminded him — it’ll just fine you instead.
Gilbert wasn’t the lone Brown to make the list, however, as Cameron Erving also was present. Different that Gilbert, Erving wasn’t “the classic NFL bust” but instead was “just” a solid player in the NFL. This time, the blame was primarily placed on the team:
“He never really got to settle down in one spot,” an AFC executive said. “Cleveland probably wasn’t the best spot for him. Too much transition there. There were some toughness questions, but he could have overcome those.”
While Trent Richardson, Weeden or Manziel may be more exciting names, Gilbert and Erving are two interesting cases among a very interesting group of names reviewed in the article. While either player may have been more successful with a different organization, their failings can’t be placed on the Browns alone.
What Browns draft pick that didn’t live up to the hype is most surprising/interesting to you?
Panthers WR Terrace Marshall Jr. ends his quiet rookie campaign with just 17 receptions for 138 yards and zero touchdowns.
The buzz started for Terrace Marshall Jr. almost as soon as the Carolina Panthers selected him in the second round of the 2022 NFL draft. Unfortunately, he hardly got started himself once his season began.
On Wednesday, the team announced the placement of Marshall Jr. (foot) on the injured reserve, effectively keeping him out of the Week 18 finale against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and putting a cap on his rookie campaign. The year’s 59th overall pick, who was expected to play a decent role for the Carolina offense following an eye-opening preseason, amassed just 17 receptions for 138 and zero touchdowns.
Joining him was offensive tackle Cameron Erving (calf), who didn’t quite have the 2021 he was probably hoping for either. The seventh-year veteran started in just nine games at left tackle after signing a two-year, $10 million contract this past offseason.
In some good news, however, the team was able to activate defensive end Haason Reddick, tight end Tommy Tremble, quarterback P.J. Walker and running back Reggie Bonnafon off the reserve/COVID-19 list. Plus, an additional pair of roster moves saw the team sign defensive end Jacob Tuioti-Mariner off the Pittsburgh Steelers’ practice squad and add cornerback Jalen Julius back to theirs.
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The Panthers will not have their sacks leader in Haason Reddick on the field for Week 17.
On Saturday, the Carolina Panthers were able to salvage a pair of key defenders from the reserve/COVID-19 list in defensive end Brian Burns and linebacker Shaq Thompson. But they couldn’t, unfortunately, get back perhaps the most important of all.
Team sacks leader Haason Reddick was not activated in time for the Week 17 matchup against the New Orleans Saints. Reddick, through 15 games in 2021, has totaled 11.0 takedowns, 18 quarterback hits and 12 tackles for a loss.
Also out for Carolina, as expected, is cornerback Stephon Gilmore and left tackle Cameron Erving. They’ll be replaced in the starting lineup by Keith Taylor Jr. and Brady Christensen, respectively.
Here’s the full list of inactives on the day:
CB Stephon Gilmore
S Sean Chandler
DE Azur Kamara
T Cameron Erving
G Deonte Brown
DE Austin Larkin
And for the host Saints:
WR Tre’Quan Smith
QB Ian Book
CB Bradley Roby
RB Mark Ingram
S Marcus Williams
LT Terron Armstead
C Erik McCoy
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As expected, the Panthers won’t have CB Stephon Gilmore for their Week 17 matchup with the New Orleans Saints.
The Carolina Panthers may not have much time left with Stephon Gilmore. And now, they definitely won’t have any time with him on the field this Sunday.
As expected, Gilmore has been ruled out of the team’s Week 17 matchup with the New Orleans Saints. The soon-to-be free agent and former Defensive Player of the Year, whose chances of suiting up were essentially squashed by head coach Matt Rhule on Wednesday, had not practiced all week.
Likely joining him in street clothes will be offensive lineman Cameron Erving, who missed the Week 16 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers due to the same calf issue. Rookie Brady Christensen will get the start at left tackle in place of Erving for the second straight game.
Here’s how the final injury report materialized ahead of the division clash:
| Injury | Wed. | Thurs. | Fri. | Game status | |
| LT Cameron Erving | Calf | DNP | DNP | DNP | Doubtful |
| CB Stephon Gilmore | Groin | DNP | DNP | DNP | Out |
| S Kenny Robinson | Illness | DNP | – | – | – |
| S Juston Burris | Groin | Limited | Limited | Limited | Questionable |
| LB Jermaine Carter Jr. | Groin | Limited | Limited | Limited | Questionable |
| S Sean Chandler | Groin | – | Limited | Limited | Doubtful |
| CB CJ Henderson | Shoulder/Knee | Limited | Questionable |
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