5 Carolina Panthers players on the hot seat at the Week 13 bye
By Dean Jones
Joey Slye – Carolina Panthers K
Joey Slye has more to do than most over the remaining four games of the 2020 season. The Carolina Panthers are clearly running out of patience with the kicker judging by their moves this week, which could result in a change at the position unless improvements are made.
Slye has missed some big kicks that could see Carolina’s record look far different. Two of those would have been NFL records – so he gets a pass for them – but his miss at the Minnesota Vikings in Week 12 cast further doubt as to whether he can occupy this position successfully in the years to come.
The Panthers brought in three kickers for tryouts on Wednesday – including Canadian Lirim Hajrullahu – which is not exactly a vote of confidence in Slye.
Only the player can rectify these problems to not only keep his place on the roster down the stretch. But also in pursuit of winning a long-term deal from the organization next spring.
Kickers are generally the scapegoats when things aren’t going well. However, Slye currently has a 77.4 percent success rate when it comes to field goals and it’s hard to argue this statistic needs to be better.
Of all the players on the hot seat heading into the business end of the campaign, Slye could find himself on the chopping block first if he doesn’t increase his efficiency getting the football through the uprights.