Carolina Panthers cut ties with struggling offensive lineman from 2023 draft
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The Carolina Panthers have dealt another blow to their 2023 draft class.
The team announced on Monday that it has waived interior offensive lineman Chandler Zavala. The fourth-round pick out of N.C. State was released from the team’s 53-man active roster after general manager Dan Morgan elected to acquire center Corey Bullock from the waiver wire.
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Bullock was waived by the Ravens during Sunday’s final roster cuts.
This might not be the end of Zavala’s tenure in Carolina. The 6-foot-3, 322-pound Boynton Beach, Fla., native might return to the team on the practice squad if another team doesn’t pick him on the waiver wire by Tuesday afternoon.
But if it is the end of the Zavala era, it ended with a bit of a sputter. The interior lineman played in 34 games as a Panther — a product of three injury-plagued seasons — and only started seven. That would constitute a disappointment in the eyes of the Frank Reich-led coaching staff that drafted Zavala; they had visions of Zavala and Wolfpack teammate Ickey Ekwonu playing next to each other on the offensive line for years to come in Charlotte.
Zavala struggled at times this summer, especially in the team’s second preseason contest against the Buffalo Bills. He notched the start with regular starters Robert Hunt and Damien Lewis sidelined with injuries, and he didn’t play well; he gave up a sack and generally failed to facilitate a pocket for quarterback Bryce Young.
Later in the summer, the team even attempted to get Zavala going by giving him reps at center. In retrospect, that decision looks like an attempt to leave no stone unturned before deciding that it’s worth moving on from him.
The Panthers now only have one member of the 2023 draft class still with the franchise. That is Young, the team’s starting QB and the No. 1 overall pick of that very draft. The rest of the draft: second-round pick wide receiver Jonathan Mingo, who the team traded to the Cowboys in 2024; third-round pick outside linebacker DJ Johnson, who the team waived last season; fourth-round pick Zavala; and fifth-round pick safety Jammie Robinson, who was released from the team in 2024.
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Bullock, 24, went undrafted in 2024. He spent three seasons at N.C. Central in Durham before transferring to Maryland for his final year in college.
The 6-foot-3, 320-pound offensive lineman played in all 16 games for the Ravens a season ago, according to his Pro Football Reference page, though he didn’t start a single one of those games. He played on Baltimore’s practice squad in 2024.
Now that 53-man active rosters across the league have been established, teams can begin building their 16-player practice squads (17 if one player is eligible for an international exemption).
The Panthers have announced 12 players to their practice squad, as of initial online publication, with five more slots still to be filled. Those 12:
Two players waived by the Panthers Sunday were claimed by other teams. Center Nick Samac was added by the Vikings, while linebacker Trevin Wallace was claimed by the Jets.
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This story was originally published August 31, 2026 at 4:24 PM.
