It’s probably safe to say that the deepest collection of talent in the NFL doesn’t reside in Charlotte. But that doesn’t mean the Carolina Panthers didn’t have some tough decisions to make on Tuesday.
After a wave of moves throughout the morning and afternoon, the team has finally reached its initial 53-man roster for the 2024 campaign. And to get there, they had to cut ties with a few notable names.
Here are the four biggest surprise cuts from a busy day:
RB Mike Boone
The well-traveled 29-year-old had a handful of factors working in his favor.
For one, neither Jonathon Brooks nor Raheem Blackshear played a single snap of preseason action due to injury. With both backs on the mend, Boone could’ve conceivably snuck in as the third healthy rusher behind Chuba Hubbard and Miles Sanders.
Those absences also helped give way to a pretty productive summer showing for Boone, who rushed for 76 yards and a touchdown on 18 carries. So between that and his head coach’s hankering to establish the run, Boone seemed to be a decent enough bet to make the roster.
But now, the Panthers are reportedly hoping he makes it back to the locker room in the next wave of moves.
WR Terrace Marshall Jr.
In a vacuum, the cut of Marshall Jr. isn’t too shocking.
Sure, he had himself an impressive offseason, and perhaps a new coaching staff could’ve finally extracted all that potential we’ve been waiting on. But reports of his departure have lingered in Carolina for a few years now—and the recent additions of Jonathan Mingo, Diontae Johnson and Xavier Legette were phasing him out.
The surprise here is that Marshall Jr. wasn’t among the whopping seven wide receivers who were kept around. The former second-round pick, instead, lost out to the likes of returner Ihmir Smith-Marsette, veteran David Moore and undrafted rookie Jalen Coker.
TE Jordan Matthews
Matthews endeared himself to coaches, teammates and fans alike this summer.
The 32-year-old wideout-turned-tight end not only turned heads on the practice field, but also turned his opportunities into some real results in the preseason. After recording a team-high 48 receiving yards in the opener in New England, Matthews punctuated the offense’s beautiful opening drive with a touchdown in the finale versus Buffalo.
Carolina, however, moved ahead with just three tight ends—Tommy Tremble, fourth-round pick Ja’Tavion Sanders and franchise mainstay Ian Thomas.
DL T.J. Smith
Like Marshall Jr.’s, Smith’s departure is somewhat of a head-scratcher given the amount of players the team kept at his position.
The Panthers, who run a 3-4 base, opted for seven defensive linemen. If we had known that number prior to today, Smith would’ve seemed like a shoo-in—especially after notching a team-leading 2.0 sacks in the preseason.
