Carolina Panthers releasing defensive tackle Zach Kerr
The Carolina Panthers are moving on from another veteran defensive tackle.
Zach Kerr will be released by the team Tuesday after spending one season in Carolina. Kerr confirmed the news Monday evening.
The move will save the Panthers almost $1.3 million in cap space and leave behind $250,000 in dead money, per Over the Cap. Kerr first indicated his departure in an Instagram post Monday.
Kerr, 30, played in 13 games during the 2020 season and started four, as part of the defensive line rotation. He had 32 tackles, two tackles for loss, nine quarterback hits and two sacks.
The defensive tackle signed a two-year, $3 million deal last offseason. The Panthers were his fourth NFL team after coming into the league as an undrafted free agent out of Delaware.
Defensive tackle is a position the Panthers will need to address this offseason, as the team has limited to no depth on the roster and no one to start opposite last year’s first-round pick Derrick Brown. The team is interested in bringing back Kawann Short, who was released earlier this year, but there are other teams interested in signing him, as well. Defensive lineman Efe Obada, who moved inside some during the 2020 season, is a restricted free agent, and it is currently not expected that the team will extend a tender, however, there is significant interest in keeping him a Panther.
2020 first-round pick Derrick Brown, sixth-round pick Bravvion Roy and practice squad player Mike Panasiuk are the only other defensive tackles currently on the Panthers roster.
This story is breaking and will be updated.
