The Panthers bid adieu to defensive linemen Gerald McCoy and Dontari Poe this offseason, and now they’ve added a reinforcement. Carolina has signed former Colts, Broncos, and Cardinals DT Zach Kerr, as ESPN’s Field Yates tweets.
Kerr entered the league as a UDFA in 2014, and he showed enough in camp and preseason that year to make Indianapolis’ 53-man roster. He stuck around for three seasons as a rotational player and was signed by the Broncos after the Colts decided against giving him an RFA tender. He played for two years in Denver and actually signed another two-year deal with the team last March, but he did not survive final cutdowns.
He caught on with the Cardinals in October and ended up playing 12 games (three starts) for Arizona. He finished the season with solid marks from Pro Football Focus, which considered him about as effective as notables like Brandon Williams and Leonard Williams (though he saw significantly fewer snaps). He is currently slated to team up with Kawann Short on the Panthers’ defensive front, but it would not be surprising to see the club use an early draft pick on a DT.
Per Jourdan Rodrigue of The Athletic, the Panthers are also bringing back WR DeAndrew White on a one-year deal (Twitter link). White opened the 2019 season on Carolina’s practice squad and earned a promotion to the 53-man roster in October. He caught four passes for 51 yards and returned 10 kickoffs.