6 remaining free agents with connections to Panthers GM Scott Fitterer
By Dean Jones
J.R. Sweezy – OG
- 2020 team – Arizona Cardinals
The Carolina Panthers have some riddles to solve on their offensive line before competitive action gets underway in 2021.
They have a lot of avenues they could go down with it comes to their starters. The prospect of bringing in additional reinforcements is also not out of the question if the coaching staff doesn’t like what it sees at training camp and in early preseason games.
One player that might be able to assist is J.R. Sweezy. The former defensive tackle in college was a real find by Scott Fitterer in the seventh round of the 2012 NFL Draft, which came with an immediate shift to the offensive side of the football as a guard.
This was a masterstroke by the Seattle Seahawks. Sweezy spent five productive years with the organization and won a Super Bowl before moving on, with the player appearing 13 times for the Arizona Cardinals in 2020.
Sweezy also played his college football at North Carolina State, so he is no stranger to the region. It’s a move that isn’t going to cost the earth at this juncture and it would also give the Panthers a dependable veteran within a positional group that has more questions than answers.
Fitterer was, of course, director of college scouting in Seattle when Sweezy was drafted. Players rarely forget people that believed in them early in their careers.