The Panthers have signed 27-year old linebacker Marcus Hudson to a 1-year deal.  Hudson played in 12 games for the Niners last season in which he made 21 tackles.  Hudson has now played in 48 games in his NFL career and he has made 68 tackles, forced 1 fumble and he has defensed 3 passes.  The Panthers hope that Hudson will provide quality depth at linebacker while excelling on special teams for them in 2010.

The Panthers have signed 26-year old WR Wallace Wright who is a great special teams player.  Wright played in all 16 games for the Jets last season in which he caught 2 passes for 21 yards (10.5 avg) and he made 23 tackles.  Wright has now played in 32 games in his 4-year NFL career and he has caught 8 passes for 108 yards (13.5 avg).  He has also returned 2 kickoffs for 31 yards (15.5 avg) and he has 66 tackles in his career.  I like this move for the Panthers as Wright will definitely help the special teams in 2010.

The Panthers have released 33-year old fullback Brad Hoover.  Hoover played in 11 games for the Panthers last season and he carried the ball 20 times for 52 yards (2.6 ypc) with 1 TD run.  He also caught 4 passes for 23 yards (5.8 avg) with a TD grab last season.  Hoover played in 152 games ni his career with the Panthers in which he carried the ball 284 times for 961 yards (3.4 ypc) with 3 TD grabs.  He also has caught 145 passes for 1,046 yards (7.2 avg) with 6 TD grabs in his career with the Panthers.  The Panthers will miss Hoover who always played hard for them despite athletic limitations.

The Panthers have released 31-year old linebacker Na’il Diggs.  Diggs played in 14 games for the Panthers last season and he made 38 tackles, 3 tackles for a loss, he forced 1 fumble and he defensed 1 pass.  Diggs played 4 years with the Panthers in which he played in 61 games and made 211 tackles, defensed 9 passes, had 4.5 sacks, forced 2 fumbles and he had 1 interception.  The Panthers will look to upgrade the quality at LB this off-season.

The Panthers have released 28-year old linebacker Landon Johnson.  Johnson played in 10 games for the Panthers last season and he made 20 tackles one of which was for a loss last season.  He played two years for the Panthers appearing in 25 games in which he made 36 tackles and forced 2 fumbles.  The Panthers shouldn’t miss Johnson too much as he was little more than a backup for them who played some on special teams.

The Panthers have released 31-year old DT Ma’ake Kemoeatu.  Kemoeatu did not play last season due to injury.  He played in 46 games in his three years with the Panthers and he made 116 tackles, defensed six passes and he forced 1 fumble.  The Panthers want to get younger on the D-Line and that was the main reason for this move.

The Panthers have released 35-year old QB Jake Delhomme.  Delhomme played in 11 games for the Panthers last season and he completed 178 of 321 passes (55.5%) for 2,015 yards with 8 TD passes and 18 INTs (59.4 QB Rating).  He also carried the ball 17 times for 60 yards (3.5 ypc) last year.  Delhomme played in 91 games in his 7 years with the Panthers in which he completed 1,580 of 2,669 passes (59.2%) for 19,258 yards with 120 TD passes and 75 INTs (82.6 QB Rating).  He also carried the ball 152 times for 260 yards (1.7 ypc) with 5 TD carries in his time with the Panthers.  Jake Delhomme will go down in Panthers’ history as the best QB they have ever had.  But, his play has fallen off so badly that the time to move on and replace him has come.  Matt Moore will likely be the new starting QB for the Panthers but I fully expect them to draft a QB in April to back him up and replace him if he’s not up to the task at hand.

The Panthers have released 32-year old DT Damione Lewis.  Lewis played in all 16 games for the Panthers last season and he made 41 tackles, had 4 tackles for a loss and he had 1/2 a sack.  Lewis played 3 years for the Panthers in which he appeared in 46 games making 113 tackles, forcing a fumble, defensing 6 passes and he had 7.5 sacks.  The Panthers want to get younger along the D-Line starting this season and that is the reason for this move.