34 year old Kris Mangum has decided to hang up his cleats and get on with the rest of his life.  Mangum played in 126 games in his career (61 starts) and he caught 151 passes for 1,424 yards (9.4 avg.) with 9 TD catches.  Now you can add a tight end to the Panthers off season shopping list.

The Panthers have released 32 year old defensive tackle Al Wallace.  Last season Wallace played in all 16 games and he made 25 tackles and had 3 sacks.  The Panthers want more production on the interior of the defensive line and they will try to fix that in either free agency or the draft.

The Panthers basically use their TEs as extra tackles in the running game because they don’t throw them the ball much.  Panthers’ TEs caught only 37 passes for 317 yards and 2 TD catches this season.

Kris Mangum played in 15 games (5 starts) and caught 21 passes for 170 yards (8.1 avg) with 1 TD grab.  For his career, Mangum has played in 126 games (61 starts) and he caught 151 passes for 1,424 yards (9.4 avg) with 9 TD catches.

Michael Gaines played in all 16 games (9 starts) and he caught 15 passes for 146 yards (9.7 avg).  For his career, Gaines has played in 42 games (21 starts) and he has caught 31 passes for 335 yards (10.8 avg) and 2 were for TDs.

Rookie Jeff King played in 12 games (0 starts) and he caught 1 pass for 1 yard and it was a TD catch.

The Panthers did a great job on the first day of the draft last April.  Overall they had a solid draft and here’s a breakdown:

RB DeAngelo Williams was the first round draft pick for the Panthers and he will be the main back for them in the near future.  Williams played in 13 games (2 starts) and he carried the ball 121 times for 501 yards (4.1 ypc) with 1 TD run.  He also caught 33 passes for 313 yards (9.5 avg) with 1 TD catch.  Williams also returned 32 kickoffs for 623 yards (19.5 avg), but he probably will give that up to be a bigger part of the offense in the future.

The Panthers hit a home run in the 2nd round of the NFL draft when they selected CB Richard Marshall.  Marshall is a game changer on the defense and was one of the best rookies in the NFL.  He played in all 16 games and made 82 tackles, a sack, 3 interceptions (one returned for a TD), defensed 11 passes, forced 2 fumbles and recovered 4 fumbles.  Marshall also returned 14 kickoffs for 291 yards (20.8 avg).

OLB James Anderson was the third round pick of the Panthers.  He played well as a reserve for the Panthers and could be a starter in the future.  Anderson played in all 16 games and made 21 tackles, 2 sacks, defensed 2 passes and forced 2 fumbles.

OT Rashad Butler was the other 3rd round pick for the Panthers and he didn’t play a down last season.

In the 4th round the Panthers selected FS Nate Salley and he didn’t do much.  He played in 8 games and made 4 tackles.

TE Jeff King was the 5th round pick for the Panthers and he was used as a blocker most of the time.  He played in 12 games and caught 1 pass…….a 1-yard TD reception.

In the 7th round the Panthers selected OG Will Montgomery and he may be a keeper as he played in 6 games and started 4 of them.

The other 7th round pick of the Panthers didn’t do much.  DE Stanley McClover played in 2 games and didn’t even make a tackle.