The 53-man roster didn't even last 24 hours before Carolina started tinkering again. On this episode of Two Growls One Roar, we're breaking down every move the Panthers made the day after final cuts — and there's more here than you'd think for a Monday in late August.
We start with the practice squad, where 12 players cleared waivers and walked right back into the building. Four of them actually matter for this roster: David Moore, cut for John Metchie III just a day earlier, lands back with the team on the strength of his relationship with Dave Canales going back to Seattle and Tampa Bay. Isaiah Simmons, the former eighth-overall pick, is back for a third season as one of the most versatile chess pieces on the roster. Jake Curhan adds more offensive line depth at a position that's already thin behind the injuries to Ikem Ekwonu and Taylor Moton. And Cam Gill returns for special-teams and pass-rush depth. We also touch on the eight rookies and young players filling out the rest of the 16-man squad, plus the international pathway exemption that let Carolina add linebacker Maz Mwansa without it counting against that number — something we explained in detail in our last episode's rules primer.
From there, Bobby Okereke's deal is officially signed, and we get into why that's a real add: four of his last five seasons have topped 130 tackles, and he immediately becomes the second-most accomplished linebacker on the roster next to Devin Lloyd. But that signing wasn't free — Carolina had to place backup guard Brady Christensen, still working back from last October's torn Achilles, on injured reserve to make room.
Then we walk through the Panthers' first waiver claim of the season: center Corey Bullock off Baltimore's roster, in exchange for waiving Chandler Zavala, Carolina's own 2023 fourth-round pick. It's a full-circle moment on the rules we broke down last episode — Bullock going through the actual waiver process instead of being released outright. We also flag that two of Carolina's own cuts from Sunday didn't sit on the wire long: Nick Samac was claimed by the Vikings and Trevin Wallace was claimed by the Jets, both landing directly on new 53-man rosters.
We close with the names you'll see floating around on unofficial trackers that the team itself hasn't confirmed — linebacker Tyrel Dodson, defensive tackle Anthony Goodlow, and offensive lineman Torricelli Simpkins III, a Charlotte native with local ties. We give you the stats and context on all three, but we're clear about the caveat: until Panthers.com actually announces it, this is smoke, not fire.
If you want to actually understand how a roster gets built in the days after cutdown — not just who made it, but who's quietly cycling through behind the scenes — this is the episode. Subscribe for more Panthers, Hornets, and Gamecocks coverage, and drop a comment if you think any of those unconfirmed names actually stick.
