Panthers will be forced to get creative managing roster thanks to NFL’s COVID-19 rules
The opening of a roster spot during an NFL training camp usually means a team will bring a free agent in for a try out, and then if the fit is there, quickly add him to the roster.
When Carolina edge rusher Christian Miller elected to opt out of the 2020 season Monday due to concerns related to COVID-19, the Panthers were given a vacancy on their 80-man training camp roster. Butt his year, bringing in a new player is not a simple task. Instead of bringing a candidate in for a workout, a player has to go through a five-day process, first visiting the doctor’s office and then getting tested for COVID-19 three times over a four-day period. If the player tests negative, they can then be brought into the building.
“It’s not like it was before where you can bring a guy in and really have them be involved in meetings and everything the next day,” Panthers general manager Marty Hurney said Monday. “I think that’s probably the biggest challenge of it is the timing part of it, and having to go through that process where you can’t even bring that player into the building until five days after you start the process.”
The 2020 NFL season is going to be all about adjustments. Everything from which teams can best transfigure their facilities to comply with social distancing and league regulations to players best utilizing the virtual offseason.
Monday was the first day that the full roster could be on the field together for a walk-through. With practice squads expanding to 16 players this year, Hurney said that this roster is being thought of more in terms of the total group of 69 as opposed to just the 53 active players because those players would already be tested and in the building if need arose midseason. Having the maximum amount of players to make sure the 69 in the building are the best possible for the 2020 season makes sense.
The Panthers will be watching the waiver wire daily to see if a player becomes available to fill the 80th spot — or any future openings — but now there will be more certainty involved in any players that are brought in.
Without OTAs, minicamps and preseason games to evaluate all of the players on the roster, Hurney said that sticking to the system the Panthers are implementing will be the priority.
“It’s really just staying open-minded and and sticking to your principles and going through the same process, evaluation wise, as we would every year,” Hurney said. “It’s still knowing what you’re looking for and trying to get a very good idea of the systems and what we’re going to do, and then how that personnel, how each personnel group, and what traits they’re looking for and how each player fits into what we’re trying to do.”
Hurney touched on a couple other topics during his first media availability since the conclusion of the NFL draft.
On quarantining a quarterback/plans for the season: Hurney said that with all of the focus on preparing the facility to be as safe as possible, there are still many discussions to be had on how the team will approach keeping a quarterback available if COVID-19 was to spread among the team. Many of the plans for the roster are still underway as this is the first week most players will be on the field.
Hurney specifically discussed how it is hard to evaluate offensive and defensive lineman without pads and that they are always on the lookout for those players.
On releasing veteran kicker Graham Gano: “I think that getting down to 80, we kind of came to the decision, and it was hard because obviously ideally, we like Graham a lot. We like Joey (Slye). But to get to 80 players, we had to make some hard decisions, and we made the decision to go with Joey. He came in last year under difficult circumstances and went 7 of 8 in kicks 40-yards or less (in the preseason last year). He went 8 of 11 over 50-yards (during the regular season). He has a strong leg, puts it in the end zone on kickoffs. It was an extremely hard decision, because we think the world of Graham and he’s a very talented kicker, but we decided to go with Joey.”
Reserve/COVID-19 update: Through Monday, the Panthers have not needed to place a player on the reserve/COVID-19 list. A player placed on the list has either tested positive for COVID-19 or been in close contact with someone who has. Many teams around the league have had to place at least one player on the list over the past week. This is the first full week the Panthers will all be in the facility together.
“All our efforts and energy have been put into really the big picture of keeping this environment as safe as we can,” Hurney said. “Adhering to all the protocols and stressing the masks and social distancing. We stress that every day, multiple times a day.”
This story was originally published August 4, 2020 at 6:00 AM with the headline "Panthers will be forced to get creative managing roster thanks to NFL’s COVID-19 rules."
