4 Carolina Panthers players not pulling their weight in 2022
By Dean Jones
Damien Wilson – Carolina Panthers LB
When the Carolina Panthers have been at their most dominant in franchise history, they’ve always had the benefit of dominant linebackers imposing their will at the second level. Jon Beason, Luke Kuechly, and Thomas Davis immediately spring to mind, but many others also played a leading role in this area becoming a real strength over the last three decades.
This hasn’t been especially evident since the great Kuechly retired. It represented a revolving door of failed free-agent moves and suspect personnel decisions overall by previous head coach Matt Rhule, which quickly became a weak link that opposing offenses exploited often.
Damien Wilson‘s seen the field plenty after joining in 2022 free agency. But with just 35 tackles and two sacks in 12 games, it hasn’t been good enough for a player that accumulated 106 tackles for the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2021 and he hasn’t taken any snaps on defense over the last three games.
Wilson’s struggles in coverage are well documented and have reared their head once again in Carolina. He’s conceding 100 percent of targets thrown in his direction and the former Super Bowl winner has been outperformed by fellow spring signing Cory Littleton, which isn’t ideal.
Releasing Wilson with one-year remaining on his deal would cost the Panthers just over $1 million in dead-cap, which represents a saving of $3.61 million. Considering how tight things are from a financial standpoint, this looks almost guaranteed.