Panthers head coach Dave Canales gives interesting answer when asked about WR depth

How many wide receivers the Carolina Panthers will keep remains a mystery.

Jim Dedmon-USA TODAY Sports

Entering training camp, the wide receiver group was one of the biggest question marks on the Carolina Panthers roster despite investing a lot into the group with the trade of Diontae Johnson and selecting South Carolina's Xavier Legette in the first round.

Training camp and all three preseason games are now in the books and the Panthers find themselves with a good problem to have roughly 24 hours away from the deadline to make roster cuts. Johnson and Adam Thielen have been as good as advertised, while Terrace Marshall Jr. and Jonathan Mingo have made serious strides in their development, making the conversations between Canales and GM Dan Morgan more difficult. Ihmir Smith-Marsette and veteran David Moore, the two presumably fighting for the sixth spot, have also shown signs of being reliable.

“It certainly came out of camp as the strongest group that we have on this team," Dave Canales said Monday morning. "There’s a lot of really important decisions that I of course don’t want to get into and specific numbers because I know that there’s people looking at our guys. There is a possibility that we could keep seven. There’s a possibility that we keep four and add two guys from other places that might upgrade the room. We’re wide-open, but what I will say is that group showed up this camp and they all to a man did something that got our attention. We have to look at the whole roster and say, how many can we afford to keep at that position? It definitely is a highlighted group.”

Six receivers seems to be the sweet spot - Johnson, Thielen, Mingo, Marshall, Legette, and Smith-Marsette/Moore. It was, however, a little surprising to hear Canales say as few as four could be a possibility. But there should be some claim-worthy names that hit the waiver wire and if you can find someone who can give you similar or possibly better production than, say, Terrace Marshall, then you go for it. Plus, the Panthers may be able flip Marshall in a trade and get something out of him rather than letting him walk in 2025.

Considering the Panthers are really short on depth at corner and outside linebacker, they may need to keep more bodies at those two respective positions initially, digging into the number of receivers they can hold on to.

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