Carolina Panthers waive former draft pick to bring in rookie OLB
The Carolina Panthers are tinkering with their roster during the first week of training camp.
On Friday, the team waived fourth-year outside linebacker Amare Barno to make room for rookie pass rusher J.J. Weaver. Barno, a 2022 sixth-round pick, will be subject to waivers over the weekend.
The swap of outside linebackers followed an earlier move on Friday, as the team signed former Kansas cornerback Mello Dotson and waived defensive back MJ Devonshire with an injury designation. Like Barno, Devonshire will be subject to waivers, but he will revert to the team’s injured reserve if he goes unclaimed.
Dotson worked out for the Panthers on Friday, while Weaver tried out for the team on Monday before the start of training camp. Clearly, both rookies made impressions on the coaching staff and front office.
Weaver, who played college ball at Kentucky, is listed as 6-foot-4 and 250 pounds. He went undrafted in April, after producing 197 tackles, 21.5 sacks, two interceptions and five forced fumbles during a six-year career with the Wildcats.
Weaver joins an outside linebacker room led by veterans D.J. Wonnum and Patrick Jones II. The team also spent a second-round pick on Nic Scourton and a third-round pick on Princely Umanmielen. The squad also has 2023 third-round pick D.J. Johnson battling for a roster spot. With Barno now on the waiver wire, Johnson’s hopes of sticking around have seemingly improved on paper.
Dotson, like Weaver, went undrafted as well. He signed with the Las Vegas Raiders after the draft but was waived earlier this week. The 6-foot-1, 192-pound cornerback produced 177 tackles, 25 pass breakups and 12 interceptions in five seasons with the Jayhawks.
Dotson will join a trio of fellow undrafted cornerbacks in the position room: Corey Thornton, JaTravis Broughton and Mike Reid. Those rookies are battling behind the likes of Jaycee Horn, Mike Jackson and Chau Smith-Wade.
Akayleb Evans and Shemar Bartholomew are a pair of 2024 holdovers who seem to be in position to back up the top three as of now. Dotson, like the rest of the undrafted group, could push Evans and Bartholomew during the summer and into the preseason.
While Devonshire was a new arrival in April, Barno’s departure is somewhat notable. Barno primarily played on special teams while moonlighting as a rotational pass rusher during his three seasons in Carolina. He suffered a torn ACL at the end of the 2023 season. He underwent a procedure on the same knee earlier this summer, but he still participated in the first two practices of training camp this week.
The 6-foot-6, 245-pound pass rusher produced 37 tackles and three sacks in 29 games for the Panthers. The Virginia Tech alum will now look to latch onto another roster before the preseason begins in August.
