Panthers

Panthers Aren’t Considering Reggie Wayne Or Other Free Agent WRs Right Now

August 20, 2015

Update:

Panthers HC Ron Rivera told reporters on Thursday that aren’t in the market for receiver and haven’t considered signing free agent Reggie Wayne.

“No,” Rivera said, via David Newton of ESPN.com, when asked if they’re shopping for a receiver. “We feel real good about who we have right now. We really do. We’ll see.

“We’ve got plenty of time. We’ve just got to be patient with them.”

Rivera added that they want to see what second-round WR Devin Funchess can do, as well as their option receivers before consider alternative options.

“We drafted Devin for a reason. You want to have a big, quality receiver, and Devin gives us that still,’’ Rivera said. “We’ve got to find answers for that, whether it’s a player stepping up or it’s by committee. But we’ve got to find the solution, and we will because we’ve got plenty of time right now.’’

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According to Joe Person of the Charlotte Observer, the Panthers have yet to reach out to free agent WR Reggie Wayne following the loss of WR Kelvin Benjamin to a torn ACL.

Shortly after news broke that Benjamin went down with a non-contact knee injury, speculation surfaced that Wayne could be an option for the Panthers.

Of course, it’s still possible the Panthers could get in contact with his agent, but there apparently isn’t anything in the works right now regarding the idea.

For what it’s worth, Adam Caplan lists Wes Welker, Donnie Avery, Santonio Holmes, Santana Moss, Robert Meachem and Brandon Lloyd as the best available receivers in free agency.

Wayne, 36, was taken in the first round of the 2001 draft by the Colts. He’s played his entire career in Indianapolis and is in the discussion as a potential Hall of Fame receiver along with fellow Colt Marvin Harrison.

Wayne unfortunately suffered a major knee injury in 2013 and wasn’t able to return to his previous form upon returning to the field last season.

In 2014, Wayne appeared in 15 games and caught 64 passes for 779 yards and two touchdowns for the Colts. Pro Football Focus has him rated as the No. 106 receiver out of 110 qualifying players, so this clearly wasn’t a great season by his standards.

We’ll have more regarding Wayne and the Panthers as the news is available.