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 traded 27-year old strong safety Chris Harris to the Bears for 25-year old linebacker Jamar Williams.  Harris played in 13 games for the Panthers last season and he had 70 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss, he forced 2 fumbles, defensed 3 passes and he had 1 interception.  Harris played in 44 games in his three years with the Panthers in which he had 226 tackles, he defensed 14 passes, he forced 12 fumbles and he had 5 interceptions.  Jamar Williams played in all 16 games for the Bears last season and he had 43 tackles, forced 1 fumble and he defensed 3 passes.  He has played in 51 games in his four years in the NFL and he has 89 tackles, 1 sack, he has forced 1 fumble and he has 1 sack.  Williams might be able to start for the Panthers but this looks like any money driven move.

The Panthers have acquired 24-year old DT Tank Tyler from the Kansas City Chiefs for a 5th round pick in the 2010 NFL Draft.  He will give the Panthers some needed size inside as he is 6’2″, 306 pounds.  Tyler played in all six of the Chiefs games this season and he made 22 tackles.  Tyler has now played 3 years in his NFL career and he has played in 37 games making 74 tackles.  Tyler was brought in specifically to help out with the run defense for the Panthers as he is not much of a pass rusher.  Making this kind of trade tells you that the Panthers are still very serious about winning this season.

UPDATE:  The Panthers have released 26-year old DT Antwon Burton to make room on the roster for Tank Tyler.  Burton played in 2 games for the Panthers making 1 tackle so they won’t miss him at all.

The Panthers have acquired 25-year old DT Louis Leonard from the Browns for a undisclosed draft pick.  Leonard played in all 16 games for the Browns last season and he made 25 tackles.  Leonard has nice size at 6’4″, 325 pounds which is the extent of his upside.  The Browns took advantage of the Panthers’ need along the D-Line.

The Panthers have acquired long snapper J.J. Jansen from the Packers for a undisclosed 2011 Draft Pick.  Jansen was an undrafted free agent who spent his rookie season on the Injured Reserve List.  The Panthers will likely start him as he will replace Jason Kyle as long as he’s healthy.