Panthers release Joey Slye, tab Ryan Santoso as new kicker
The Carolina Panthers took relatively long to finally get kicker Joey Slye some competition this summer. They didn’t, however, take long in letting Slye go after said competition beat him out.
As first reported by Joseph Person of The Athletic, the team has released Slye after nearly three years with the organization. That, as a result, leaves Ryan Santoso as Carolina’s new kicker moving forward into the 2021 regular season.
The Panthers have in fact released kicker Joey Slye, per source. They’re going with Ryan Santoso. https://t.co/uwkF0xm5aO
— Joe Person (@josephperson) August 28, 2021
Slye struggled through much of the preseason, going a combined 6-of-10 on all of his attempts. He essentially sealed his fate in last night’s 34-9 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers when he missed a 49-yard field goal wide right at the end of the first quarter.
His fate, after being sealed, was then sent off by the impressive performance from Santoso. Santoso, who was just traded for on Thursday, converted on both of his field goal tries (52 and 27 yards) and all three of his extra points.
If Santoso plays in at least two games for Carolina this season, the conditional seventh-round pick they handed over to the New York Giants for the 6-foot-5, 260-pounder will no longer be conditional.
