Panthers veteran punter Michael Palardy suffers season-ending torn ACL
Panthers punter Michael Palardy suffered a torn ACL on his kicking leg in the offseason and was placed on the team’s reserve/non-football injury list Tuesday, ending his 2020 season.
The hope was that Palardy would be able to play on the injury, but the decision was made to get surgery instead.
Carolina signed South Carolina undrafted free agent Joseph Charlton last week. He is the only other punter on the team’s roster.
After struggling to find a consistent team early in his career, Palardy has been with the Panthers since midway through the 2016 season when he filled in for an injured Andy Lee. He won a training camp battle with Lee in 2017.
During the 2018 season he received a three-year, $7.52 million extension from Carolina. He is the team’s all-time leader in net punt average (40.3) with a minimum of 10 games played and set a franchise record for highest net punting average (42.4) in a single season in 2017. Over the last three seasons, he has not missed a game due to injury.
In 2019 he averaged 46 yards per punt (13th) and had 25 kicks inside the 20-yard line (tied for 17th). Since 2017, he has a net average of 40.7 yards per punt (14th). Palardy has one year left on his deal.
After spending all of the offseason unsigned, Charlton was signed by the Panthers last week. He holds the University of South Carolina record for career punting average at 45.5 yards. He also holds the top two single-season punting marks, setting the record in 2018 with a 44.8-yard average, then surpassing his own record by nearly three yards per punt the next year with a 47.7-yard average. In 2019 Charlton had a school record 27 punts of 50 yards or more, and 28 punts were inside the 20 with just five touchbacks.
Other Panthers injury, transaction notes
- Left tackle Greg Little will start training camp on the active/physically unable to perform list (knee), which indicates he did not pass his physical. The team does not expect him to spend extended time on the list. Little played in just four games his rookie year due to suffering two concussions and an ankle injury. He is expected to be a backup this year after the Panthers brought in veteran Russell Okung in the offseason.
- UDFA OL Branden Bowen from Ohio State will begin camp on the active/reserve list with a non-football illness.
The Panthers waived former XFL OL Juwann Bushell-Beatty.
This story was originally published July 28, 2020 at 4:37 PM with the headline "Panthers veteran punter Michael Palardy suffers season-ending torn ACL."
