Panthers cut Charles Godfrey
The Panthers cut safety Charles Godfrey yesterday. Godfrey had been moved from his normal safety spot to playing the nickel slot this season. He did not achieve great results at it, becoming the target of several quarterbacks when he on the field.
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Godfrey, the former third round pick out of Iowa, had not really been the same player since his ACL tear. His release now is more an indictment of the Panthers secondary play as a unit than his failure individually. Clearly Panthers general manager David Gettleman has started looking elsewhere for possible solutions to this problem. The return Bene Benwikere from injury probably made this an easier move to make.
His roster replacement, according to Darin Gantt of Pro Football Talk, was offensive lineman Chris Scott. Given the number of injuries the line has suffered recently, Scott will be a welcome addition to the unit.
The other thing that should be noted about Godrey’s release is that it also comes at the time when Greg Hardy is not playing. The defensive pass rush has been chastened in recent weeks. The lack of a strong defensive pass rush will eventually trickle back to the secondary. The longer the secondary has to cover, the less able they are do so.
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As the Panthers move on from here they will have to make small adjustments like this to find a formula that works. The ‘Cam does everything’ approach will only get the team so far, and it has been the play of the defense that has offered more surprises than the offense so far this season.
Fortunately the Panthers play in the NFC South where the records are bad. The division cannot be expected to stay bad, and the Panthers need to figure things out before the Saints figure their stuff out.