Panthers waiver claims: Carolina takes full advantage of having No. 1 slot to add array of players

The Carolina Panthers didn’t waste the opportunity with the top waiver claim following roster cuts. Because the franchise finished with the worst record in 2023, they were No. 1 on the waiver wire, meaning they had the first crack at the pool of players who were waived during final roster trimming on Tuesday. In total, Carolina came away with six players from waivers. 

Defensive back Shemar Bartholomew was claimed from the New York Jets, defensive back Tariq Castro-Fields was claimed from the Washington Commanders, offensive tackle Keenan Isaac was claimed from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, linebacker Jarrett Kingston was claimed from the San Francisco 49ers, and defensive end Jamie Sheriff along with linebacker Jon Rhattigan were both claimed from the Seattle Seahawks. 

Rhattigan went undrafted in 2021 out of Army and spent the last four seasons with Seattle. Out of the bunch, he’s had the most NFL experience, appearing in 36 games and totaling 17 tackles. Castro-Fields was a sixth-round draft choice of the San Francisco 49ers in 2022 out of Penn State but spent the last three seasons in Washington. In 10 career games, he has four tackles seeing most of his playing time on special teams. 

Meanwhile, Kingston is a sixth-round rookie of the Niners out of USC, Sherrif is an undrafted rookie out of South Alabama, and Bartholomew also went undrafted after playing college ball at Georgia Southern last year.  

In corresponding moves to make room for these new claims, the Panthers waived wide receiver Ihmir Smith-Marsette, guard Cade Mays, cornerback D’Shawn Jamison, defensive tackle Jayden Peevy, along with undrafted rookies Jalen Coker and Demani Richardson.