Live updates: Carolina Panthers’ final roster cuts begin by waiving 7 players
The Carolina Panthers wrapped up their longer-than-usual preseason on Friday night in Charlotte.
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The next morning? They started on a 36-hour marathon.
The NFL’s deadline for cutting the teams’ rosters down to 53 players will arrive at 6 p.m. Sunday this year. That means the Panthers will need to make dozens of moves to get to the right allotment in between now and then — moves that are made via waivers, releases, the injured reserve list and more.
“They’ll be in waves; we’ll start (Saturday) with some guys,” Canales said of the Panthers’ roster reduction process late Friday night, after the Panthers’ preseason win over the Texans. “It really goes both ways for us. When guys become available, that gives them a better opportunity to be exposed to the rest of the league, if people are watching their film.”
The Charlotte Observer is tracking all the movement in this live blog. Also below is a recap of what key terms mean, as well as a few frequently asked roster questions.
This is The Observer’s live blog from Saturday. Check out our Sunday live blog here.
The Panthers announced Saturday afternoon that they’ve parted ways with a handful of players. They waived seven players and released one previously on the team’s injured reserve.
Waived (an asterisk indicates the move was previously reported):
Waived/injured:
Released:
That puts the Panthers’ active roster at 84 players. Assuming the team officially signs linebacker Bobby Okereke — who agreed to terms with the Panthers on Saturday — prior to the cut deadline Sunday, that will put the active roster at 85, meaning the team still needs to make 32 roster moves before the cut deadline on Sunday at 6 p.m.
The Panthers have opted to add some help at the inside linebacker position. The team has agreed to terms with veteran linebacker Bobby Okereke, according to Tom Pelissero of The Ringer and other media reports. Okereke will join a room with Devin Lloyd, Claudin Cherelus and Trevin Wallace, and potentially another linebacker or two depending on how the next few days of cuts go as the Panthers continue their roster reduction from 91 players to 53.
Perhaps the most pressing question on defense for this Charlotte-based franchise all summer stemmed from the ILB room. Specifically, it hinted at the question: Who is going to start alongside Lloyd (who the Panthers spent good money in free agency in March to acquire)? Will it be Wallace or Cherelus? The two have been in a neck-and-neck battle with no clear winner.
Now, a new question comes to the fore: Could it be Okereke?
Okereke is a veteran presence. The 30-year-old was drafted by the Colts in the third round of the 2019 NFL draft; he spent his first four seasons there before spending the next three with the New York Giants. In 2025, he played all 17 games and tallied 143 tackles, one sack and two interceptions. He was also the Giants’ Walter Payton Man of the Year nominee last season.
Cut-down day has started for the Panthers. The Carolina franchise moved on from three players early Saturday, according to NFL reporter Aaron Wilson. Those three:
The active roster is the one composed of 53 players who are immediately eligible to play on game days. Players need to be on the active roster in order to play a regular-season or playoff NFL game.
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The training camp roster limit — which the Panthers were at as of Saturday morning — is 91 players. That’s 90 players plus an additional international player exemption. So 38 players will need to be removed from the active roster by 6 p.m. Sunday.
The Panthers were harmed early by injuries this summer. Promising second-year outside linebacker Nic Scourton tore his ACL on the first day of training camp and was shortly thereafter pronounced out for the season. Not long after that, rookie wide receiver and draft pick Chris Brazzell suffered a partial tear in his LCL; he too is out for the year. Both will officially be placed on the season-ending IR come the deadline.
The Panthers have two players on the “Active/Physically Unable to Perform” list as of Saturday morning. Those two players: left tackle Ikem Ekwonu (knee) and defensive tackle Turk Wharton (neck). If they remain on the PUP list through the cut deadline, they will move to the “reserve/PUP” list and won’t count toward the 53-man roster. They will, however, have to miss the first four games of the season.
Similarly, the Panthers have one player on the “Active/Non-Football Illness” list: offensive tackle Taylor Moton (blood clot). It’s likely Moton will be moved to the “reserve/PUP” list come the deadline. Thus, he won’t count against the 53-man limit but will be required to miss at least the first four games of the year.
Two. If a player is placed on the team’s injured reserve with a return designation, he must sit out at least four games to begin the season. From there, he can have his 21-day practice window activated anytime and return to practice and games. One such potential candidate for IR with a return designation is quarterback Haynes King; the undrafted rookie hasn’t played or practiced since suffering a hamstring injury on the final, game-winning play at the conclusion of the Panthers’ first preseason game on Aug. 6.
There’s a small but sometimes consequential distinction between these terms. If a player has three or fewer seasons of accrued NFL experience and is not going to be retained by a team, he will technically be “waived.” As in: He will be subject to the waiver wire and can be claimed by another team.
Meanwhile, if a player has four or more seasons of accrued NFL experience, he will not be subject to the waiver wire; once his release is processed on the transaction log, he will become a free agent immediately. (Those with four-plus seasons of NFL experience are referred to as “vested veterans.”)
The moment the 6 p.m. roster deadline arrives on Sunday, Aug. 30 … all the way to 1 p.m. Monday, Aug. 31 … players waived by teams can be scooped up by other teams on the waiver wire, according to NFL.com. Every waiver wire acquisition will be added to the 53-man active roster, and thus a corresponding move must be made to keep each team’s limit at 53 players.
For the players who just missed making active 53-man rosters, many will find a home on the practice squad of an NFL team. Teams can build their practice squads after the waiver wire window closes at 1 p.m. Monday. A team can keep up to 17 players on its practice squad — 16 for anyone, and one for a player who qualifies for an international player exemption.
Thus, by the end of business Monday, the Panthers will most likely have 70 players in their locker room. That’s 53 on the active roster and 17 on the practice squad. They’ll have a few more players in the locker room on various reserve lists, too.
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This story was originally published August 29, 2026 at 6:00 AM.
