The Panthers have released 26-year old WR David Clowney.  Clowney played in 10 games (0 starts) for the Panthers last year and he caught 6 passes for 102 yards (17.0 avg).  He has played in 28 games (3 starts) in his first three years in the NFL and he has caught 22 passes for 341 yards (15.5 avg) with 1 TD grab.  This is not much of a loss for the Panthers who have loaded up at WR for the 2011 season.

The Panthers have released 25-year old fullback Tony Fiammetta.  Fiammetta played in 14 games (9 starts) for the Panthers last year and he carried the ball 7 times for 22 yards (3.1 ypc).  He also caught 5 passes for 34 yards (6.8 avg) last year.  Fiammetta played in 24 games (11 starts) in his two years with the Panthers but he didn’t touch the ball as a rookie.  The recent claim of fullback Jerome Felton off waivers essentially ended Fiammetta’s tenure with the Panthers.

The Panthers have waived 26-year old CB/S C.J. Wilson.  Wilson played in 8 games for the Panthers last year and he had 13 tackles and 1 fumble recovery.  Wilson played in 23 games in his four years with the Panthers and he had 27 tackles, 4 passes defensed and 1 fumble recovery.  The Panthers don’t have much need for Wilson anymore as they have improved the secondary and special teams in the offseason.

The Panthers have released 24-year old RB Tyrell Sutton.  Sutton played in 9 games for the Panthers last year and he carried the ball 13 times for 71 yards (5.5 ypc).  He also caught 12 passes for 70 yards (5.8 avg) last season.  Sutton played in 16 games in his two years with the Panthers and he carried the ball 25 times for 139 yards (5.6 ypc).  He also caught 18 passes for 132 yards (7.3 avg) and he returned 16 kickoffs for 332 yards (20.8 avg).  Sutton was caught up in a numbers game at RB for the Panthers.  I look for him to hook on with another team at some point this year.

The Panthers have waived 24-year old DE Kenwan Balmer.  Balmer played in 43 games in his first three years in the NFL and he had 62 tackles, 4 tackles for a loss and 2 passes defensed.  The Panthers use their DEs to rush the passer, so they won’t miss Balmer too much, if at all in the future.

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 decided not to bring back 55-year old head coach John Fox or any of his staff for the 2011 NFL season.  The Panthers finished 2-14 last season which had them in last place in the NFC South by a large margin.  The Panthers were brutal on offense as they averaged 115.4 yards rushing per game (4.3 ypc) and 143.1 yards passing per game.  The Panthers went through 3 starting QBs in 2010 in Matt Moore, Jimmy Clausen and Brian St. Pierre and they all stunk as Panthers’ QBs compiled a QB Rating of 57.0 in 2010.  The Panthers only scored more than 20 points twice in 2010 as they were outscored 408-196 last season. 

John Fox was the head coach of the Carolina Panthers for 9 seasons.  He won the NFC South 3 times and he took the Panthers to the Super Bowl in 2003 where they lost 32-29 to Tom Brady and his Patriots in a fantastic football game.  Fox compiled a 73-71 (50.7%) record during the regular season for the Panthers and he was 5-3 (62.5%) during the post season.  The Panthers cut costs last season and sent Fox into gun fights with a butter knife.  I don’t look for Coach Fox to be out of work too long as the Browns are already considering him to replace Eric Mangini who they fired earlier today.

The Panthers have lost 24-year old WR Devin Thomas on waivers to the Giants.  Thomas played in 1 game for the Panthers and he didn’t catch any passes.  I wold be shocked if Thomas turns into something with the Giants even with Eli Manning at QB because everywhere he has went, he has failed.  When the Panthers cut a WR it really says something about his talent level.

24-year old WR Dwayne Jarrett was charged with his second DWI in three years earlier today and that led to his release.  Jarrett played in 3 games for the Panthers this year and he caught 2 passes for 40 yards.  He played in 32 games in his four years with the Panthers and he caught 35 passes for 428 yards (12.2 avg) with 1 TD grab.  Jarrett was a 2nd round pick of the Panthers in 2007 and he can now be classified as a huge bust.

The Panthers have released 26-year old DT Louis Leonard.  Leonard played in 2 games for the Panthers this year and he had 2 tackles.  In 2 years with the Panthers, Leonard played in 4 games finishing with 8 tackles.  The Panthers won’t miss Leonard much as he didn’t do much with them in his time in Carolina.