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Michael Palardy

Panthers Release P Michael Palardy, DE Stephen Weatherly

February 19th, 2021 at 4:23pm CST by Sam Robinson

In addition to jettisoning Tre Boston, the Panthers parted ways with two other contributors Friday. They released three-year punter Michael Palardy and 2020 defensive end starter Stephen Weatherly.

Together, these moves will create nearly $8MM in cap space for the Panthers. Combined with the releases of Boston and Kawann Short this week, the franchise will save around $16.4MM. Both Palardy and Weatherly were released with failed-physical designations, Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle tweets.

The Panthers signed Palardy midway through the 2016 season, picking him up after placing previous punter Andy Lee on IR. Carolina kept Palardy around for the next three seasons, doing so via three-year, $7.52MM extension. One season remained on that deal. Palardy, 28, suffered a torn ACL last summer, leading the Panthers to use rookie UDFA Joseph Charlton as their punter.

Weatherly, 26, inked a two-year, $12.5MM deal with the Panthers last March and opened the season as the team’s defensive end starter opposite Brian Burns. Weatherly suffered a finger injury that required surgery, sending him to IR after nine games. The Panthers then turned to second-round pick Yetur Gross-Matos. Both Burns and Gross-Matos can be controlled through the 2023 season on their rookie contracts.

A seventh-round Vikings pick in 2016, Weatherly has managed to stick around beyond his rookie deal. He recorded six sacks between the 2018 and ’19 seasons and replaced Mario Addison as a Panthers starter last year. The Vanderbilt product did not register a sack with the Panthers, however.

Latest On Panthers’ COVID-19 Situation

December 11th, 2020 at 12:23pm CST by Sam Robinson

Dec. 11: Good news for Carolina, as Samuel, Thompson, and Brown have all been activated from the reserve/COVID-19 list and were back at practice today. They will all be available for the club’s tilt with the Broncos on Sunday.

Dec. 8: The Panthers are now a team to monitor regarding COVID-19. They placed eight players on their reserve/COVID-19 list this week, after two tested positive, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets.

Carolina moved several big names — D.J. Moore, Curtis Samuel, Shaq Thompson, Derrick Brown and Greg Little — along with punter Michael Palardy, defensive tackle Zach Kerr and wide receiver Ishmael Hyman to their coronavirus list this week. At least two of these players will miss Sunday’s game against the Broncos, and the rest of the lot will at least miss some practice time this week. It is not yet certain which Panthers tested positive.

While this is certainly an issue, the Panthers do not appear to have the makings of an outbreak. They reported no new positive COVID-19 tests Tuesday, according to NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero (on Twitter). The Panthers closed their facility after the positive tests but are scheduled to reopen it Wednesday.

Carolina will host Denver on Sunday. The Broncos saw their bye rescheduled at the 11th hour earlier this season, when the Patriots encountered positive tests. With no teams having more byes, after the Panthers and Buccaneers concluded theirs in Week 13, the NFL’s options would be limited. However, as the recent Ravens outbreak showed, the league will pull out all the stops to ensure games are now played in their scheduled week.

Panthers P Michael Palardy Tears ACL

July 28th, 2020 at 3:08pm CST by Sam Robinson

The Panthers will make a change at punter this season. They have placed Michael Palardy on their reserve/non-football injury list. This will end his season.

This comes after Palardy, Carolina’s punter since 2016, suffered a torn ACL while training independently this summer, Tom Pelissero of NFL.com tweets. The tear is in Palardy’s left leg, his kicking leg. While the five-year veteran hoped to kick through this, Pelissero adds surgery is now on tap.

Palardy has been the Panthers’ full-time punter since the start of the 2017 season. The franchise signed him in 2016, when he kicked in seven games for the then-defending NFC champions. Palardy has twice averaged 46 yards per punt, doing so in 2017 and ’19. He ranked 13th in this category last season.

The Panthers may well add a veteran leg to compete with rookie UDFA Joseph Charlton, who operated as South Carolina’s punter for the past three seasons.

Panthers, Palardy Agree To Extension

October 2nd, 2018 at 3:32pm CST by Zachary Links

The Panthers are signing punter Michael Palardy to a three-year, $7.52MM contract extension, a source tells Tom Pelissero of NFL.com (on Twitter). The new deal keeps Palardy in place through 2021 and puts him in the top ten of punter compensation. 

The deal, which includes a $2MM signing bonus, represents a big step up for Palardy. The punter was released by seven different teams before making his debut in 2016, so he’s undoubtedly appreciative of the new pact.

Palardy, 26, joined the Panthers in 2016 after Andy Lee was lost to injury. He has a career net average of 41.1 yards per boot and set the Panthers’ franchise record for single season net punting average last year.

Minor NFL Transactions: 4/17/18

April 17th, 2018 at 5:50pm CST by Dallas Robinson

Today’s minor moves:

Atlanta Falcons

Baltimore Ravens

Buffalo Bills

Carolina Panthers

Chicago Bears

Green Bay Packers

Los Angeles Rams

New York Jets

Seattle Seahawks

Minor NFL Transactions: 3/9/18

March 9th, 2018 at 8:40pm CST by Micah Powell

Here are today’s minor moves:

Arizona Cardinals

Carolina Panthers

Denver Broncos

Los Angeles Rams

 

Panthers Cut P Andy Lee

September 2nd, 2017 at 9:32am CST by Zachary Links

The Panthers have cut punter Andy Lee, Joe Person of the Charlotte Observer tweets. That means they’ll be keeping Michael Palardy as their punter for the coming season. Andy Lee

The Panthers tried to orchestrate a trade for Lee this week, but it was to no avail. This time last year, the Panthers gave up a fourth-round choice to acquire him from the Browns. When he was dangled, the Cardinals expressed some level of interest, but it sounds like the Panthers could not extract anything of value from them. The Cardinals seem like a prime candidate to sign the veteran now that he’s a free agent.

The Panthers already paid $1MM to Lee in March and they’re still on the hook for his $1MM fully guaranteed base salary, so the punter will be on the books for $2MM in all, as Adam Caplan of ESPN.com tweets. It’s not a good look for Carolina, but the “new” regime did not want to saddle themselves with Dave Gettleman‘s mistake.

Lee, 35, had a perfect attendance record in the regular season through ten seasons before a hamstring injury sidelined him in 2016. For his career, he has three Pro Bowl nods and three first-team All-Pro selections.

Minor NFL Transactions: 4/17/17

April 17th, 2017 at 7:12pm CST by Connor J. Byrne

The latest minor moves…

  • Raiders defensive end Denico Autry has signed his RFA tender, reports ESPN’s Adam Caplan (Twitter link). The Raiders gave the 2014 undrafted free agent an original-round tender, leading to speculation that he could draw interest from elsewhere. Instead, Autry will return to the Raiders on the heels of back-to-back three-sack seasons. ERFAs Seth Roberts (WR) and Denver Kirkland (G) are also back in the fold, according to Michael Gehlken of the Las Vegas Review-Journal (on Twitter).
  • The Seahawks have re-signed linebacker Kache Palacio, writes Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times. Palacio, a former fullback who went undrafted out of Washington State last year, spent most of 2016 on Seattle’s practice squad.
  • Lions ERFAs Brandon Copeland (DE), Kerry Hyder (DT) and T.J. Jones (WR) have signed their tenders, tweets Birkett. Dolphins ERFAs Mike Hull (LB) and Anthony Steen (C) did the same earlier Monday, per Adam Beasley of the Miami Herald (Twitter link).

Earlier updates:

  • The Panthers have re-upped restricted free agent guard Andrew Norwell and a pair of exclusive rights free agents – center Tyler Larsen and punter Michael Palardy – writes Bryan Strickland of their website. Carolina used a second-round tender on Norwell, who will earn $2.746MM in 2017. Norwell combined for 29 starts over the previous two seasons and ranked 11th in performance among Pro Football Focus’ 72 qualified guards last year.
  • Steelers RFA cornerback Ross Cockrell has inked his original-round tender, reports ESPN’s Adam Schefter (Twitter link). Cockrell went in the fourth round of the 2014 draft, so the Steelers would have been entitled to a fourth-rounder had Cockrell signed elsewhere and they elected against matching the offer. The 25-year-old caught on with the Steelers in 2015 and has since totaled 31 appearances, 23 starts and two interceptions. Cockrell started in every Steelers game last year, and his performance ranked an improve 28th among 111 qualified corners at PFF.
  • Chiefs RFA kicker Cairo Santos has signed his tender, per Schefter (on Twitter). Santos, undrafted in 2014, received a low tender; as such, Kansas City wouldn’t have been entitled to compensation had he gone elsewhere. The three-year veteran has connected on 84.3 percent of field goal attempts, including 88.6 percent last season (good for fifth in the league).
  • Lions offensive tackle Cornelius Lucas has signed his RFA tender, tweets Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press. The Lions assigned Lucas an original-rounder tender last month, so they wouldn’t have gotten a pick had the 2014 undrafted free agent signed elsewhere and they chose not to match. Lucas is now slated to make $1.797MM this year in Detroit, where he has started in six of 35 career appearances.
  • The Buccaneers have re-signed quarterback Ryan Griffin, cornerback Jude Adjei-Barimah, tight end Cameron Brate, linebacker Adarius Glanton, and wide receivers Adam Humphries and Freddie Martino, per Scott Smith of the team’s website. As a restricted free agent, Griffin is the only one of the bunch who could have potentially gone elsewhere (the rest were exclusive rights free agents). The Bucs tendered the 2013 undrafted free agent at an original-round level last month, and he’ll now try to win the No. 2 role behind Jameis Winston. Tampa Bay’s previous second-stringer, Mike Glennon, is now the Bears’ starter.
  • RFA defensive back Marcus Burley and ERFA running back George Atkinson III are returning to the Browns, per a team announcement. Burley, undrafted in 2013, received an original-round tender. The former Seahawk is coming off his first year in Cleveland, where he appeared in 12 games and played just under 40 percent of the Browns’ special teams snaps.
  • Fullback Tommy Bohanon and receiver Larry Pinkard have signed with the Jaguars, tweets the team’s account. Bohanon is the only with NFL experience, having logged 36 appearances and 14 starts as a Jet from 2013-15.
  • Speaking of the Jets, they have re-signed linebacker Julian Stanford (via Randy Lange of the team’s site). The Jets could Stanford on Friday, but both sides knew that was only a procedural move. Last season was the first as a Jet for the 26-year-old Stanford, who appeared in nine games (two starts) and played about a quarter of their defensive snaps and a third of their special teams snaps.

RFA/ERFA Tender Decisions: 3/7/17

March 7th, 2017 at 7:04pm CST by Dallas Robinson

Unrestricted free agent news will obviously dominate the day, but several clubs also had to make decisions on whether to offer tenders to restricted and exclusive rights free agents. All RFA tenders listed are original round/right of first refusal (worth $1.797MM), and all links go to Twitter:

RFAs:

Tendered:

Non-Tendered:

ERFAs:

Tendered:

Non-Tendered:

Panthers Place Andy Lee On IR, Sign Michael Palardy

November 14th, 2016 at 4:25pm CST by Ben Levine

The Panthers have placed punter Andy Lee on the injured reserve, reports Jourdan Rodrigue of The Charlotte Observer (via Twitter). The team has signed punter Michael Palardy to replace the Pro Bowler.

Andy LeeLee injured his hamstring during Sunday’s loss to the Chiefs, and the veteran punter was unable to take the field during the second half. The 34-year-old has continued his reign as one of the league’s top punters in 2016. He’s averaged 49.1 yards per punt this season, good for fourth in the NFL. The 13-year veteran has also placed 18 punts inside the 20-yard line.

A sixth-round pick back in 2004, Lee was traded from the Browns to the Panthers this past offseason. Prior to his one season in Cleveland, Lee played 11 seasons with the 49ers, where he was a three-time Pro Bowler and three-time first-team All-Pro. Lee currently ranks ninth all-time in punting yards and 19th in punts. The punter is signed through the 2018 season.

Palardy, a 2014 undrafted free agent out of Tennessee, was in contention for the Panthers’ punting gig before the team traded for Lee. The 24-year-old has also spent time with the Browns and Falcons.

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