4 Carolina Panthers players that must be re-signed urgently this offseason

Zane Gonzalez – Carolina Panthers K

It’s not often that a kicker should be one of your top concerns in free agency. But with all the struggles that the Carolina Panthers have gone through since moving on from Graham Gano, the addition of Zane Gonzalez in Week 2 was a breath of fresh air.

After cutting Joey Slye, trading for Ryan Santoso from the New York Giants before releasing him after just one game, Gonzalez was signed and after struggling his first game, he was as accurate as the Panthers could’ve asked for.

In 12 games before a season-ending injury, Gonzalez made a career-best 90.9 percent of his field-goal attempts and secured three-of-five efforts from more than 50 yards.

Considering that kickers don’t usually make a lot of money and he has bounced around a bit in the league, Carolina just has to show Gonzalez that they are loyal to him and show a true interest that they want the former seventh-round pick back providing his injury down the stretch isn’t too much of a concern.

It is always possible to find another, younger kicker. But this is something the Panthers have struggled with lately and if he’s healthy, they shouldn’t overthink it and give Gonzalez another year.