Canales Plans to 'Drag Out' Kicking Competition 'As Long as Possible'

A decision on the Panthers kicker doesn't appear to be coming anytime soon.

Jim Dedmon-USA TODAY Sports

Panthers GM Dan Morgan hinted at it on report day, but head coach Dave Canales made it clear...there is indeed a competition at kicker between Eddy Pineiro and undrafted free agent Harrison Mevis.

How long will that battle last?

“I don’t know," Canales answered. "I think we’ll just keep alternating the days. Harrison had a really good day, missed a long one. Eddy kicked great yesterday. I learned this from Pete (Carroll)…don’t make the decision until the last possible time that you have to so you can just keep gathering information. The evaluation process continues, so I’d like to drag that out as long as possible for them to be able to show us what they can do.”

Pineiro has been one of the league's most accurate kickers since coming to Carolina in 2022. In his two years with the Panthers, he's connected on 58/64 (91%) of his field goal attempts. As for Mevis, he converted on 89 of his 106 field goal attempts during his four seasons at Missouri.

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