The Panthers had offensive line issues entering camp, and it hasn’t gotten any better.
According to Jonathan Jones of the Charlotte Observer, backup tackle Bruce Campbell will need surgery to repair a rotator cuff injury. Coach Ron Rivera was unsure if it would be season ending.
Campbell was their backup left tackle, and there’s not another one in camp with any measurable experience. This is also the team that entered camp hoping for a competition at right guard between Geoff Hangartner and Edmund Kugbila, only to see Hangartner released after a week and Kugbila unable to get off the exercise bike.
Then there’s right tackle Byron Bell, who isn’t terribly good to begin with.
The confluence of events should steer them toward free agent Travelle Wharton, who spent most of his career with the Panthers and can play both guard and tackle. But he didn’t seem interested in playing for what they were offering (i.e. near the minimum) when he visited after being cut by the Bengals.
That offer might have just gotten a bit better.