Panthers CB Bené Benwikere’s release: What ‘retooling’ a team in midseason means

While it didn’t match the Josh Norman bombshell from last spring, the release of Bené Benwikere on Friday was another huge hit to the Panthers’ cornerback rotation.

Benwikere was waived five days after he was burned repeatedly by Falcons wideout Julio Jones in Atlanta’s 48-33 victory on Sunday at the Georgia Dome.

Answering the key questions, trying to make sense of the late-week move and where the Panthers, and their secondary, go from here:

Was Benwikere cut strictly because of what happened in Atlanta?

Benwikere’s performance against Julio Jones was putrid.

He gave up 228 yards of Jones’ 300-yard receiving total (sixth most in NFL history), according to Pro Football Focus. And Benwikere didn’t help himself by admitting after the game he’s not in good condition.

But safety Kurt Coleman came to Benwikere’s defense, praising Benwikere for raising his hand and volunteering to cover Jones after James Bradberry left with a toe injury after the opening series.

When a team becomes the first in league history to have a 500-yard passer and 300-yard receiver in the same game, it was not the fault of one defender.

So what happened?

Well, we know Benwikere had been demoted because that’s what he told the Observer on Thursday.

Then a day later, he’s cut. You do the math.

Panthers coach Ron Rivera seemed to suggest there was more to the move, saying it was done “in part (because of) some of the things that have happened and some other things.”

Regardless of how poorly Benwikere played at Atlanta, teams don’t cut players on Friday – especially when Bradberry’s out with turf toe. This seems like a situation where a frustrated player and frustrated coaching staff didn’t mesh.

Was Benwikere healthy?

Being healthy and being as effective as he was before his leg surgery last winter are two different things. When Benwikere started training camp on the physically unable to perform list, Rivera said people didn’t realize how traumatic Benwikere’s injury was when he broke his leg above the ankle last season.

It’s clear Benwikere was still working his way back into football shape, which he admitted in a candid self-assessment after the Falcons game and then again Thursday.

“People are forgetting that the kid literally broke his leg 10 months ago (and) is literally just getting back into it,” said Bardia Ghahremani, Benwikere’s agent. “Last week they were expecting – Bradberry was supposed to follow Julio. He goes down. With no (practice) reps on Julio and getting back in the flow of things, what do you expect?”

Great, so now what?

When the Panthers drafted three corners this year, it was with the idea of replacing Norman, Charles Tillman and Cortland Finnegan. Now add Benwikere.

Robert McClain, who rejoined the team last December, and third-round pick Daryl Worley are expected to start against Tampa Bay on Monday night. The backups will be fifth-round pick Zack Sanchez, who spent the past month on the practice squad, and Teddy Williams, a special teams regular who has been inactive the past three games.

Rivera said the Panthers are ready to get a look at their young players in the secondary, much like 2014 when the team benched/cut Antoine Cason and Thomas DeCoud in favor of Tre Boston and ... Benwikere.

Two years later, Benwikere and Boston, who has lost his starting job at free safety, are being phased out.

Any chance the Panthers sign a veteran corner?

Possibly. Rivera didn’t rule it out.

The team added a veteran safety last week in Michael Griffin, who should start Monday night alongside Coleman. The makeup of the corner group as currently constructed cries out for another veteran presence.

“As much as you’d like to have a Charles Tillman-type guy, unfortunately we don’t,” Rivera said. “Because of that, we’ve decided that we really want to go with younger guys. We have three of them that we drafted this year. I know one of them’s out right now.”

Is going younger or really what a team coming off a Super Bowl needs to be doing?

General manager Dave Gettleman took a huge gamble when he pulled the franchise tag from Norman. I said throughout the offseason that move would shape the 2016 Panthers more than any other.

That doesn’t mean these young corners aren’t any good. Bradberry and Worley have shown remarkable poise and are confident without being cocky jerks.

But they’re going to take their lumps along the learning curve. Defensive coordinator Sean McDermott said this week he’d be naive to think otherwise.

It would help if the Panthers’ front four started getting pressure on quarterbacks. McDermott and Rivera talk all the time about how the pass rush and coverage go hand in hand.

It’s time for the pass-rushers to hold up their end.

What did Rivera mean when he said the Panthers were ‘retooling this football team?’

He didn’t mean they were folding the tent on 2016, though “retooling” sounds a lot like “rebuilding.”

The Panthers are hoping to accomplish what they did in 2014 – play some young guys, hopefully get a spark and string some wins together before 1-3 becomes 1-5.

Rivera and Gettleman believe it’s possible to construct a team for the future without flushing the present. But it is interesting to note that last season the Panthers were filling roster holes with proven veterans such as Jared Allen and Cortland Finnegan, while this season they’re plugging them with young players.

“This is Game 5. It’s a 16-game season,” Rivera said. “We wouldn’t do anything if we didn’t feel we could be competitive. We play to win.”

This story was originally published October 7, 2016 at 5:56 PM with the headline "Panthers CB Bené Benwikere’s release: What ‘retooling’ a team in midseason means."