5 Carolina Panthers players who won’t be on the roster by Week 1

Tommy Stevens – Carolina Panthers QB/TE

The farce surrounding Tommy Stevens between the Carolina Panthers and New Orleans Saints after the draft meant absolutely nothing in the end. Sean Payton clearly had no use for him and cut him loose during the season, which left Matt Rhule with the opportunity to finally get the player to the organization and seeing what he can do.

Stevens is nothing more than a development project, which is fine considering what stage his career is at. Carolina has toyed with the idea of using him as a tight end, but looking at the options currently available across the roster, it’s hard to find a spot where he fits at the present time.

The Panthers look pretty set at quarterback with Sam Darnold, P.J. Walker, and Will Grier as their options in 2021. They’ll only activate two at any given time going off their methods last season, so going into the campaign with four signal-callers on the roster isn’t likely if this trend continues.

Dan Arnold was signed in free agency to hopefully boost production from the tight end position. Carolina also used a third-round pick on Notre Dame’s Tommy Tremble, decided to keep Ian Thomas around, and extended Colin Thompson, leaving Stevens’ chances of making an impression slim at best.

If the Panthers release Stevens, there is a high likelihood he’d be brought back onto the practice squad providing he doesn’t get snapped up by someone else.