4 Carolina Panthers players who could benefit from recent cuts
By Dean Jones
Yetur Gross-Matos – Carolina Panthers DE
It was clear from very early on that the free-agent signing of Stephen Weatherly was never going to work out. The defensive end came to the Carolina Panthers on the back of some encouraging displays as a rotational piece on the Minnesota Vikings, which he is probably more suited to if his performances as a starter were any indication.
Weatherly was one of the easier cuts Carolina will make this offseason. But the move also represents a significant amount of faith in Yetur Gross-Matos making some enormous strides in 2021.
The former Penn State edge rusher showed flashes of real promise as a rookie despite a frustrating campaign with injury, concussion, and even a spell on the reserve/COVID-19 list.
Gross-Matos possesses the sort of explosiveness that is hard not to love. So providing the player makes some improvements to his game in the coming months, he is a potential breakout candidate when competitive action rolls around later this year.
Carolina got extremely lucky when Gross-Matos fell into their laps at No. 38 overall in the 2020 NFL Draft. The defensive end notched 2.5 sacks, 24 tackles, six quarterback hits, one forced fumble, two tackles for loss, and 12 pressures from just 36 percent of snaps, which was promising to say the least considering how unfortunate the rookie was.
Gross-Matos is reportedly going to be working with Brian Burns and Stanley McClover this offseason, which will be another incredible learning tool he can take with him into training camp.