Carolina Panthers make multiple roster moves Tuesday

The Carolina Panthers have made a few adjustments to the roster this week. The Panthers started the season on a three-game win streak. Now they find themselves trending in the opposite direction after losing three in a row. Their most recent loss came at the hands of the Minnesota Vikings in overtime 34-28. With that in mind, Carolina has made a few changes to mix things up. 

The Panthers have signed punter Ryan Winslow to the main 53-man roster. Winslow, a 27-year-old punter from the University of Pittsburgh. He originally signed to the Panthers practice squad on Oct. 14. This move comes after starting punter Joseph Charlton was placed on injured reserve the same day. Charlton was placed on IR with back issues and will be out for a minimum of three weeks. Since the Panthers have two more games to go, they have brought up Winslow to take over the punting responsibilities until their starter returns. In the game against Minnesota, Winslow punted the ball six times for 244 yards in his first game with the Panthers. 

Outside of that, they have placed wide receiver Brandon Zylstra on injured reserve this week. Zylstra went down with a hamstring injury in the loss to the Minnesota Vikings. In the game, he caught three passes for 32 yards. On the season, Zylstra has eight catches for 139 yards and a touchdown. He is also a member of the Carolina Panthers special teams and has recorded four tackles on the season. 

Panthers bring back an old friend

Finally, the Panthers have brought back running back Reggie Bonnafon as a member of their practice squad. Fans of Carolina should be familiar with Bonnafon as he spent the last three years with the team. He was an undrafted rookie free agent pickup back in 2018. After not appearing in a single game in his rookie year, Bonnafon saw an increase in his usage in 2019. That year he played in all 16 games for the Panthers. He finished the year off with 16 rushes for 116 yards and a touchdown. The former Louisville Cardinal also caught six passes for 57 yards. In 2020, he saw his usage rate drop as he only played in two games and recorded just 12 rushes for 69 yards that season.

Bonnafon was a casualty of the team’s cut down to a 53 man roster to start the year. But surprisingly, he was not picked up and added to the team’s practice squad. With star-running back Christian McCaffrey still on the mend, the Panthers could use somebody familiar with their offense. And couple that with a lack of production from Chuba Hubbard and Royce Freeman and, you could see Bonnafon added to the main roster sooner rather than later.