The Panthers have signed 27-year old linebacker Omar Gaither.  Gaither played in 14 games for the Eagles last year and he had 36 tackles and 2 tackles for a loss.  Gaither has now played in 67 games in his first five years in the NFL and he has 289 tackles, 18 tackles for a loss, 5 sacks, 2 forced fumbles, 3 fumble recoveries, 18 passes defensed and 2 interceptions.  This was a solid signing for the Panthers as Gaither is a pretty solid linebacker.

The Panthers have released 31-year old DE Tyler Brayton.  Brayton played in 15 games for the Panthers last year and he had 22 tackles, 3 tackles for a loss, 2 fumble recoveries and 2 passes defensed.  Brayton played in 46 games in his three years with the Panthers and he had 107 tackles, 8 tackles for a loss, 9.5 sacks, 3 forced fumbles, 4 fumbles recoveries and 6 passes defensed.  The Panthers probably felt that Brayton just wasn’t worth his paycheck anymore.

The Panthers have re-signed linebacker Jon Beason to a 5-year, $50 million dollar deal.  Beason played in 16 games for the Panthers last year and he had 121 tackles, 9 tackles for a loss, 1 sack, 2 forced fumbles, 8 passes defensed and 1 interception.  Beason has now played in 64 games in his first four years with the Panthers and he has 541 tackles, 26 tackles for a loss, 4 sacks, 3 forced fumbles, 4 fumble recoveries, 29 passes defensed and he has 8 interceptions.  This was a great move for the Panthers as Beason is a tackling machine.

The Carolina Panthers have acquired 26-year old TE Greg Olsen from the Bears for a 3rd round pick in 2012.  Olsen played in 16 games (13 starts) for the Bears last year and he caught 41 passes for 404 yards (9.9 avg) with 5 TD grabs.  He has now played in 62 games (39 starts) in his first four years in the NFL and he has caught 194 passes for 1,981 yards (10.2 avg) with 20 TD grabs.  This was a great pickup for the Panthers as TEs are a young QBs best friend.  The Panthers now have two good ones in Jeremy Shockey and Greg Olsen.  They stole Olsen as they didn’t give the Bears fair value for him.

The Panthers have signed 28-year old safety Sean Considine to a 1-year deal.  Considine played in 14 games for the Jaguars last year and he had 52 tackles, 1 sack, 1 forced fumble, 1 fumble recovery, 3 passes defensed and 1 interception.  He has now played in 71 games in his first six years in the NFL and he has 242 tackles, 7 tackles for a loss, 2.5 sacks, 2 forced fumbles, 4 fumble recoveries, 15 passes defensed and 4 interceptions.  Considine will provide depth in the secondary and he should be able to help out on special teams…but the Panthers could be in trouble if he’s forced into the starting lineup as he gets burned deep quite a bit.

UPDATE:  (9/5/2011) – The Panthers have released Sean Considine.

UPDATE:  (9/7/2011) – The Panthers have re-signed Sean Considine.

The Panthers have signed 38-year old kicker Olindo Mare to a 4-year, $12 million dollar contract.  Mare played in all 16 games for the Seahawks last year and he connected on 25 of 30 field goals (83.3%).  He also made all 31 of his extra points as he finished with 106 points last year.  Mare has now played in 216 games in his first 14 years in the NFL and he has connected on 328 of 403 field goal attempts (81.4%).  He has also made 436 of 441 extra points as he has scored 1,420 points in his NFL career so far.  Mare is a dependable kicker and the Panthers can’t afford to leave any points on the field, so I like this signing for them.

The Panthers have signed 31-year old TE Ben Hartsock to a 2-year deal.  Hartsock played in all 16 games (6 starts) for the Jets last year and he caught 1 pass for 7 yards.  He has now played in 88 games (39 starts) in his first 7 years in the NFL and he has caught 29 passes for 282 yards (9.7 avg) with 1 TD grab.  Hartsock is a good run blocker so he should be a good fit for the Panthers’ offense.

The Panthers have re-signed 28-year old RB DeAngelo Williams to a five year, $43 million dollar deal.  Williams played in 6 games (all starts) for the Panthers last year and he carried the ball 87 times for 361 yards (4.1 ypc) with 1 TD run.  He also caught 11 passes for 61 yards (5.5 avg) last year.  Williams was banged up most of last year but he’s healthy once again and it was important for the Panthers to bring him back.  Williams has played in 64 games (37 starts) in his first five years with the Panthers and he has carried the ball 841 times for 4,211 yards (5.0 ypc) with 31 TD runs.  He has also caught 118 passes for 922 yards (7.8 avg) with 4 TD grabs for the Panthers.  Williams has made it to 1 Pro Bowl in his first five years.  He is the Panthers’ all-time leading rusher (4,211 yards) and he’s also the franchise leader in TD runs (31).  This was a good move for the Panthers as Williams still has a lot left in the gas tank when he’s healthy.

The Carolina Panthers have re-signed 25-year old DE Charles Johnson to a 6-year, $72 million dollar deal.  Johnson played in all 16 games for the Panthers last year and he had 62 tackles, 3 tackles for a loss, 11.5 sacks, 3 tackles for a loss, 1 forced fumble and 1 pass defensed.  Johnson has now played in 48 games in his first four years with the Panthers and he has 114 tackles, 5 tackles for a loss, 21.5 sacks, 4 forced fumbles, 1 fumble recovery and he also defensed 11 passes.  The Panthers might have overpaid a little bit for Johnson, but if they didn’t….some other team would have snapped him up.

The Panthers have signed 32-year old NT Ron Edwards to a 3-year, $8.25 million dollar deal.  Edwards played in all 16 games for the Chiefs last year and he had 26 tackles, 2 sacks and 1 pass defensed.  He has now played in 128 games in his 10 years in the NFL and he has 192 tackles, 10 tackles for a loss, 15.5 sacks, 3 forced fumbles, 3 fumble recoveries and he has defensed 6 passes.  Edwards will give the Panthers a run plugging NT for the middle of the defense.  I like this signing for them.