The Carolina Panthers are going to have to make a difficult decision with a fan favorite at quarterback per Dave Canales.
The 2026 NFL preseason officially wraps up on Saturday with just two games. For the Carolina Panthers, they wrapped up their preseason on Friday night by beating the Houston Texans 16-13 at home.
It closed out a 3-1 campaign in the preseason for the Panthers and now, the focus is on Week 1 and the Chicago Bears. But before we get there, teams have to cut down their roster to 53 players.
The deadline to do so is 6 p.m. ET on Sunday night, so moves will come in a hurry for teams, including the Panthers. Carolina has some interesting decisions to make in terms of the 53 man roster.
One of those is quarterback Haynes King.
After an impressive showing in the Hall of Fame Game against the Arizona Cardinals, King caught the attention of fans and the coaching staff. But he hasn't played since then due to a hamstring injury. So what does Carolina do with the undrafted free agent?
It's going to be a difficult decision either way as Dave Canales mentioned on Friday.
"It makes it really difficult—because he had a great game, in the Hall of Fame Game," he stated of the evaluation process. "And I would've loved to have Haynes get some opportunities throughout the preseason and different situations—throwing him in there earlier in the game and seeing how he responds. We just don't have the benefit of having that available to us."
If King had stayed healthy, he would have had a shot to cement his roster spot over the past few weeks. But with the injury, his roster status will be in question.
The other thing that the Panthers have to keep in mind is if he will clear waivers. He went undrafted in the draft, which meant every team, including Carolina, passed on him. Will they do it again after what happened in the Hall of Fame Game?
Carolina does have Kenny Pickett who will make the roster. But Kyle Trask performing well last night also makes things tough.
It's a tough situation to be in for both sides and we should be approaching a decision sooner than later. Let's hope for the best for King and his future in the NFL.
