Panthers add draft pick, veteran wide receiver to active/PUP list before training camp

The Carolina Panthers have added two more players to the active/physically unable to perform (PUP) list ahead of training camp.

On Saturday, the Panthers placed rookie cornerback Chau Smith-Wade and veteran wide receiver Cam Sims on the PUP list. Their placement followed the same designation of teammates, D.J. Wonnum, Jalen Coker, Yosh Nijman and Amare Barno, on the list on Friday.

All six players count against the Panthers’ 90-man roster limit. They are all eligible to be taken off the list at any time.

Smith-Wade, the team’s fifth-round draft pick in April, will join second-round running back, Jonathon Brooks on the sideline to begin their initial NFL training camp together. Brooks, who tore his ACL in November, was placed on the active/non-football (NFI) injury list on Friday. Like the players on the PUP list, Brooks is eligible to return from the NFI list at any point this summer.

With Smith-Wade sidelined, the Panthers’ already limited cornerback depth chart will take a hit. Smith-Wade was expected to enter camp as a key reserve in the secondary behind Jaycee Horn, Dane Jackson and Troy Hill. Jackson and Hill are competing for the No. 2 outside cornerback job opposite Horn. The team also has Dicaprio Bootle, D’Shawn Jamison, Lamar Jackson, and Willie Drew at position.

Sims’ status on the PUP list will impact him more than it will the competition at wide receiver. The Panthers upgraded their wideout depth chart with the acquisitions of Diontae Johnson and first-round pick Xavier Legette this offseason. Like Coker, an undrafted rookie, Sims will need to watch as other compete for a depth job behind Johnson, Legette and slot receiver Adam Thielen.

Sims and Coker will eventually need to make up ground against Jonathan Mingo, Terrace Marshall, Ihmir Smith-Marsette, David Moore, Mike Strachan, Daewood Davis and Sam Pinckney this summer.

With seven players on injury lists, the Panthers’ depth at multiple positions will be tested. Along with having light cornerback and wide receiver depth, the placement of Barno and Wonnum on the PUP list has left the outside linebacker depth rather shallow as well.