After a year like the Carolina Panthers had, it can be tough for departing free agents to find jobs. Teams aren't exactly scouring a 5-12 roster to try and find their next star. Even still, there have already been nine Panthers who hit free agency in March that have signed deals with new teams for 2025.
That leaves more than half of their free agents unemployed, however.
Former Panthers Who Are Still Free Agents in April
The Panthers have 10 players who hit free agency in March but have still been unable to find a job as of April 4:
- Shaq Thompson
- Sam Franklin
- Eddy Pineiro
- DeShawn Williams
- Mike Boone
- Cam Gill
- Caleb Farley
- Deven Thompkins
- Chandler Wooten
- Raequan Williams
A look at this list makes it clear pretty quickly why the Panthers are one of the teams with the most remaining free agents.
Williams, Gill and Wooten are the only players on the list who played even 250 snaps for the Panthers last year, and not being able to earn your way onto the field on a 5-12 team is a big red flag. Plus, Gill and Wooten only hit that mark if you include special teams snaps.
Williams, for his part, probably would be more attractive to teams if he didn't play so many snaps. He was flat-out terrible (47.9 overall grade from PFF, and you won't find many Panthers fans who disagree with that grade).
A lot of these guys are likely to simply end up as end-of-the-bench or practice squad players (if they're on a roster at all) in 2025, and so that also means we should expect them to remain unemployed for a while longer. Teams would rather roll the dice on a rookie, so names like these are usually not signed until later in the offseason when we have a better idea of what holes there may be in training camp rosters.