Carolina Panthers are releasing reserve QB, report says. Another decision looms
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The Carolina Panthers are making a slight change to their quarterback room.
The team is moving on from reserve QB Kyle Trask, according to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler. That means the Panthers have three quarterbacks on their roster at the moment: starter Bryce Young, backup Kenny Pickett and third-stringer Haynes King.
Read more Carolina Panthers are releasing reserve QB, report says. Another decision looms
Trask’s release on Sunday was more or less written on the wall. Carolina couldn’t afford the luxury of four quarterbacks on its active 53-man roster — a roster that must be reduced by the NFL-mandated deadline of 6 p.m. Sunday.
Still, it marks the departure of a player with a deep connection to head coach Dave Canales and a teammate who stepped in when the Panthers needed an extra arm in training camp, after King suffered a hamstring injury in early August from which he has yet to return.
“Kyle Trask is somebody that I love,” Canales told reporters last month, after Trask initially tried out for the team. “Had the chance to spend a year with him in Tampa, and we’re (bringing) him in to work him out, to see where he’s at physically. … You never know what happens. But it’s good to just have guys who know the system, to be ready, to be available. And I’m just glad to be able to spend the day with Kyle.”
Trask, 28, is entering his sixth NFL season. The 6-foot-5, 235-pound signal-caller has played in seven regular-season games and has yet to notch a start, according to Pro Football Reference. He spent 2025 on the Atlanta Falcons’ practice squad, and prior to that, he spent three years with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, including when Canales was the offensive coordinator there in 2023.
It’s not like Trask didn’t have a good showing when his opportunities arose this summer. In his first two preseason games, he completed 10 of 13 passes for 105 yards and two passing touchdowns. He also had one interception. His passer rating, in the first two preseason contests, averaged out to 107.4.
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His final preseason game was also productive. His stat-line: 19 of 28 for 147 yards. He also threw one interception.
All of that is not including perhaps his best throw of training camp. That came in the Jacksonville Jaguars’ joint practice, when he lofted a beautiful pass under heavy blitzing pressure to tight end Feleipe Franks, who was sprinting up the seam and who hauled in the touchdown pass. The connection between the two former Florida Gators — the two former Florida Gator QBs, at that — made the Jacksonville, Fla., crowd go nuts.
This isn’t the last decision the Panthers will need to make at the quarterback position. The team will also have to decide if it wants to retain three quarterbacks on its roster and keep King — whose Hall of Fame Game heroism on national television might have cemented his roster spot. Should the Panthers waive King, it’s possible another team claims the undrafted rookie.
The Panthers could also, in theory, place King on the injured reserve with a return designation. That would allow King to be retained by the team but not count toward the team’s 53-man active roster limit. The downside to that would be that King would have to miss a minimum of the team’s first four games — but if King’s hamstring injury is taking a while to heal, such a move could make sense.
Trask would be a strong candidate to join the Panthers’ practice squad if King, in fact, remains sidelined due to injury.
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This story was originally published August 30, 2026 at 11:23 AM.
