Carolina Panthers: Bene Benwikere released from the team
The Carolina Panthers have committed to change in the secondary by releasing Bene Benwikere.
The Carolina Panthers proved today that they were not content with the status quo by cutting cornerback Bene Benwikere, one of the few experienced pieces in a maligned secondary. This is a move not unlike the personnel shifting the Panthers did in 2014 which promoted Benwikere, Tre Boston, and Josh Norman into the spotlight to begin with.
There is a lot of questions to answer here. One, Benwikere was not old. He was 25. Two, despite a bad performance against Julio Jones, Benwikere had not seemed to be that big of a liability in the early season. Three, the Panthers had enough faith in Benwikere at the beginning of the year to start him over Daryl Worley and place Zach Sanchez on the practice squad.
The best way to make sense of Benwikere’s release is to remember what happened to him at the end of last season. He got hurt late in the year. It is likely that he has never entirely come back from that injury and that he may have been a step slow. Corner is a position in the league where you cannot really be a step slow.
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Regardless of the reason, the Panthers have made a move to shuffle their secondary a little bit. James Bradberry may miss more time with turf toe, but he seems to be a long term answer at one cornerback slot. Worley will certainly get his chance at the other spot. Sanchez was promoted onto the main roster and may see action at the nickel. The safety position remains the same for the moment.
The Panthers are missing the leadership presence of Roman Harper and Charles Tillman in the defense. Tillman and Harper were veteran figures who could help moderate difficulties like the one the team is currently undergoing. With Benwikere gone, Kurt Coleman is the only returning starter from last year’s Super Bowl team in the starting secondary.
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The Panthers have also made this choice before playing Tampa Bay, which could be an illustration of how much they are concerned about Mike Evans doing his best Julio Jones imitation.