Troy Pride Jr. – Carolina Panthers CB
This is perhaps a little harsh considering that Troy Pride Jr. hasn’t played a down this season due to injury. But the NFL waits for no man and the Carolina Panthers’ moves throughout the campaign mean his future looks incredibly bleak.
The cornerback didn’t exactly stake a notable claim as a rookie. Pride saw more time on the field than Carolina probably hoped due to injury, but a lack of consistency in coverage left no doubt within the front office that this was a positional group that needed some big-time bolstering during the offseason.
In came Jaycee Horn, Keith Taylor Jr., and A.J. Bouye. The Panthers also added C.J. Henderson and All-Pro Stephon Gilmore during the season.
And just like that, Pride is all but forgotten.
Even if the Panthers end up keeping just one out of Donte Jackson and Gilmore this offseason, it’s hard to envisage a situation where the Notre Dame product becomes a prominent part of the rotation anytime soon.
That is the nature of the business, unfortunately. Pride didn’t prove himself to be reliable before an unfortunate knee complication and Carolina wasn’t willing to hang around on the off chance he would become a force in 2022.