One, Er, Uh, Two Down And…Wait A Minute!
By John White
Funny. You spend your day running around the internets looking for news. There really isn’t any. Until you read that the Carolina Panthers have signed Mackenzy Bernadeau to a contract. Not so fast!
The Charlotte Observer is now reporting the follwing.
The Carolina Panthers signed sixth-round draft pick Nick Hayden to a four-year contract, general manager Marty Hurney said Friday. Hurney wouldn’t release financial details of the deal with Hayden, a defensive tackle from Wisconsin.
Hurney also said the team is “close” to deals with tight end Gary Barnidge, a fifth-rounder from Louisville, and offensive guard Mackenzy Bernadeau, a seventh-round choice from Bentley (Mass.), and should have them signed early next week. The team’s two other seventh-rounders — North Carolina linebacker Hilee Taylor and Oregon offensive tackle Geoff Schwartz — are next on the Panthers’ priority list, according to Hurney.
Sounds like the team is working from the seventh round to the first. Nothing wrong with that except I just got through reading that Bernadeau had signed and reported it, well, maybe not.
Either way, let’s just hope the team can get all their rookies into camp on time. One clue to a rookie signing is the release of a player. Rookies don’t count against the 80-player limit until they are signed.