Carolina Panthers draft pick receiver Chris Brazzell will miss all of 2026 to injury
The Carolina Panthers had originally thought that their promising rookie wide receiver would be back for the bulk of the 2026 season after suffering a knee injury on Wednesday.
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Then came a medical second opinion.
And then a team decision.
The Panthers will be without third-round draft pick Chris Brazzell for 2026, a league source confirmed to The Charlotte Observer after it was initially reported by The Athletic. The 6-foot-4, 198-pound deep threat will have season-ending surgery after sustaining a moderate tear of his lateral collateral ligament in his left knee.
A league source also told The Observer that holding Brazzell out of the 2026 season is the best course of action for the team and for Brazzell — as a full recovery from the LCL tear is expected in 2027.
The injury happened on a 7-on-7 rep Wednesday; he went down without any contact grabbing his left knee — the same knee he was ailing from that caused him to miss practice the Friday, Sunday and Tuesday prior.
This is merely the latest of a trend of heartbreaking news for this Panthers team that is fresh off an NFC South championship and its first playoff appearance since the 2017 season. On the first day of training camp, the team lost one of its best pass rushers in second-year outside linebacker Nic Scourton to an ACL tear. Prior to that, the Panthers knew they would be without starting offensive right tackle Taylor Moton (blood clot) and left tackle Ikem Ekwonu (ruptured patellar tendon) for a bulk of the season, too.
Brazzell has impressed in his short time in Charlotte. His speed has been evident on the practice field, and he has a catching radius that all Carolina quarterbacks in camp have benefited from — from Bryce Young, to Kenny Pickett, to Haynes King.
The Tennessee star was one of head coach Dave Canales’ favorite prospects going into the 2026 draft.
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“Just his film over the last two years, when you look at Tulane (where he played from 2022-23) and you look at Tennessee and combine all of it, you’re going to get a full picture of a route tree,” Canales said in April. “Body control. Ability to do those things.”
Canales added: “We weren’t expecting Chris to be there. We were sitting there, waiting, and he just kept dropping right to us. And what a great opportunity for us to just again add to that room.”
The news opens up an additional slot on the Panthers’ training camp roster (91 players) and ultimately their active roster (53).
The Panthers have kept seven receivers on their initial 53-man roster through the first two seasons of Canales’ tenure. Brazzell was expected to compete in a room comprised of Offensive Rookie of the Year Tetairoa McMillan, newly signed-to-an-extension Jalen Coker, Xavier Legette, John Metchie, Brycen Tremayne, Jimmy Horn Jr., David Moore and Ja’Seem Reed, among others.
The Panthers have added two receivers since Brazzell’s injury — Casey Washington and Gabriel Benyard. As of this article’s online publication, the Panthers have neither announced Brazzell’s move to the injured reserve list nor a corresponding roster addition.
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Mike Kaye contributed to this report.
This story was originally published July 30, 2026 at 2:08 PM.
