Panthers Worked Out Five Kickers

According to Aaron Wilson, the Carolina Panthers hosted five kickers for a workout on Monday. 

The full list includes:

1. K Taylor Bertolet
2. K Brian Johnson
3. K Chase McLaughlin
4. K Eddy Pineiro
5. K Matthew Wright

The Panthers lost starting K Zane Gonzalez to a potentially severe groin injury, so they’re in need of a replacement. 

Pineiro, 26, wound up signing on with the Raiders as an undrafted free agent out of Florida in 2018. He was, unfortunately, placed on injured reserve with a groin injury coming out of the preseason and missed the entire year.

The Raiders traded him during the offseason to the Bears and he was named the winner of the team’s kicking competition that summer. He missed the entire 2020 season with another groin injury. 

The Colts signed Pineiro to a one-year deal for the 2021 season but he was cut and subsequently joined Washington’s taxi squad. Washington released him from their practice squad in September with an injury settlement and caught on with the Jets in December. 

The Jets re-signed Pineiro to a one-year deal as a restricted free agent this offseason before recently releasing him.  

In 2021, Pineiro appeared in eight games for the Jets and converted all eight field goal attempts and all nine extra-point attempts. 

McLaughlin, 25, originally signed on with the Bills as an undrafted free agent out of Illinois in 2019. He was among Buffalo’s final roster cuts coming out of the preseason and caught on with the Vikings’ practice squad.

From there, McLaughlin had stints with the Chargers, 49ers, Colts, Vikings and Jaguars before he was claimed off of waivers by the Jets near the end of the 2020 season. New York waived him in May and he was claimed again by the Browns. 

In 2021, McLaughlin appeared in 15 games and made 15 of 21 field-goal attempts (71.4 percent), and 36 of 37 extra-point attempts.