It’s officially official. On Monday afternoon, the Panthers announced the release of wide receiver Russell Shepard. 
Shepard signed a three-year deal with the Panthers last year, but his time in Carolina is up after just one season. The Panthers believed that Shepard would build off of his 23 catches for 341 yards and two touchdowns with the Bucs in 2016. Instead, he never really found a place for himself in the Panthers’ offense.
The Panthers recently asked Shepard to accept a pay cut, but he refused. It was something of a no-brainer decision for Shepard as the difference between his severance and expected intake for 2018 is just $900K. The Panthers will now save $2.125MM against the cap with $1.4MM in dead money by releasing him.
With Shepard out of the picture, the Panthers will move forward with Devin Funchess and first-round pick D.J. Moore as their top wide receivers. Veterans Torrey Smith and Jarius Wright are also in the mix, as well as 2017 second-round pick Curtis Samuel.
Shepard joins Dez Bryant, Dontrelle Inman, Eric Decker, and Jeremy Maclin on the free agent wide receiver pile.