Carolina Panthers admit defeat by cutting ties with recent 3rd-round draft pick originally appeared on The Sporting News
The Carolina Panthers are waving the white flag on a recent third-round draft pick.
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The team announced on Tuesday that it has waived 2023 third-round pick and outside linebacker D.J. Johnson, who the Panthers actually traded up for.
In addition, the Panthers also waived injured wideout Dalevon Campbell.
Johnson appeared in 27 games over his first two seasons in the NFL, but he only had five starts and tallied just one half of a sack, one QB hit and 60 combined tackles. Johnson played 29% and 40% of snaps in 2023 and 2024, respectively.
So far this season, Johnson’s playing time had decreased, with the edge rusher seeing just 23% of the defensive snaps. He recorded just two tackles.
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The writing was on the wall that Johnson wasn’t long for Carolina after the team made several moves at outside linebacker this offseason, including drafting a pair of edge rushers in the 2025 NFL draft in Princely Umanmielen and Nic Scourton, and with the free-agent signing of Patrick Jones.
With Johnson gone, all that remains from the Panthers’ 2023 draft class is quarterback Bryce Young and guard Chandler Zavala.
Carolina cut ties with Jammie Robinson last season and he’s now on the practice squad of the Kansas City Chiefs, and Jonathan Mingo was traded to the Dallas Cowboys in 2024.
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