6 Carolina Panthers players who earned themselves contracts for 2022
By Luke Tucker
Brandon Zylstra – Carolina Panthers WR
This player may come as a surprise to some fans. But following his third year with the Carolina Panthers, Brandon Zylstra has proved himself to be a versatile weapon who also showed some development as a wide receiver this past season.
Zylstra’s numbers are far from astounding – underwhelming even – but the former CFL star displayed quite a versatile skillset in 2021. He mainly served as a special-teams player during his time in Carolina – to which he has been a part of some noteworthy plays – but has also been cited by the coaching staff as an emergency quarterback, and apparently, a kicker as evidenced by his work against the Buffalo Bills this year.
As the world continues to grapple with COVID-19, teams saw players head to the reserve list in droves at the end of the regular season. P.J. Walker was one, so it’s not out of the realm of possibility that an entire quarterback room could test positive.
Just look at the Minnesota Vikings and Denver Broncos, for example. There’s no doubt Zylstra has become a man of many titles for the Panthers, and in a time where nobody knows who’s going to be healthy in a given week, the backup plans have to be in place.
On top of his versatility, Zylstra also showed a little bit of value in the receiving game this year. His statistics weren’t great overall, but he did log 18 catches for 250 yards and his first NFL touchdown, despite the revolving door at quarterback.
Zylstra actually ranked third on the team in yards among receivers, behind only D.J. Moore and Robby Anderson. The Panthers will certainly hope to get more production out of Terrace Marshall and potentially Shi Smith in 2022, but the veteran gave Matt Rhule and Scott Fitterer plenty of reason to want him back when the new season kicks off.