A number of recognizable Panthers were allowed to test the free agent markets and have found new homes in the first month of the offseason.
The NFL probably has the most turnover from year to year of all the major American professional sports leagues. Lots of rosters are filled with short term contracts, and the ones that look like longer term pacts are usually shorter deals in disguise. Teams are often forced to let players go more because of cap ramifications than on field ability, so these players often quickly find new homes.
The Panthers have popped up a lot over the offseason with all of the signings they’ve made, and it’s easy to lose track of who has left and where they’ve gone. There are a few sets of former Panthers that are going to be teammates again elsewhere.
Xavier Woods, Johnny Hekker – Titans
The Panthers lost one of their starting safeties and their starting punter to the Titans. Neither had quite lived up to their billing when they signed a couple of years ago. The Panthers don’t play the Titans next season, so a potential revenge game would have to wait.
Ian Thomas, Lonnie Johnson – Raiders
Johnson probably isn’t a household name since he played sparingly last season, but Thomas’s departure almost seems like the end of an era of sorts. He stuck around with the Panthers for seven years despite never topping the 333 receiving yards he had as a rookie. Injuries derailed his last two seasons, and he finally departed to sign with Pete Carroll’s Raiders.
Jordan Fuller, Feleipe Franks – Falcons
Fuller, like Woods, was not the caliber of safety the Panthers hoped they were getting at safety. He’ll reunite with his old defensive backs coach Raheem Morris, who is now head coach of the Falcons. Feliepe Franks was a mainstay on special teams who will perhaps be most remembered for dropping a pass on a fake punt. He returns to the team he started his NFL career with.
Dane Jackson – Bills
Speaking of players returning to where they came from, Jackson had four quality season with the Bills before coming to Carolina. An injury cost him the first half of the season and he never really found his place here. He signed a one year deal to go back to the Bills on the first day of free agency.
Sam Franklin – Broncos
Franklin has made a name for himself as a feisty special teams player that would do okay if called into spot duty at safety. I’m kind of surprised the Panthers elected to let him go, especially since he didn’t sign with anyone until the Broncos picked him up just last week.
Miles Sanders – Cowboys
Sanders signing with the Cowboys is perhaps the most interesting of the Panthers departures. He didn’t work out in Carolina after a Pro Bowl season with the Eagles, but he graciously stepped into a backup role behind workhorse Chuba Hubbard. The Cowboys elected to pick him up after he was waived. Meanwhile, they let their good and versatile back Rico Dowdle walk, and he’s now with the Panthers for only about $1.2 million more than the Cowboys are paying Sanders.