Carolina Panthers waive second-year special teams contributor

The Carolina Panthers have decided to move on from second-year punter Joseph Charlton. Charlton was in his second year with the team after entering the league as a rookie last season.

“The Panthers are waiving punter Joseph Charlton, per source,” NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero tweeted. “After a short stint on IR, Charlton is fully healthy now and was solid as a rookie in 2020.”

Charlton was placed on injured reserve by the Panthers around a month ago due to a back issue. On November 3, the Panthers designated Charlton, along with Christian McCaffrey, to return from injured reserve. That began a 21 day window for Charlton to return to practice.

Now, with Charlton seemingly fully healthy, the Panthers have decided to go in another direction.

Charlton has seemingly lost the Panthers punting job to Lachlan Edwards

Charlton began his collegiate career with the South Carolina Gamecocks in 2015. In 2015, he took a redshirt year as a true freshman. He also did not see any action as the backup punter in 2016. Charlton earned the punting job in 2017, and he put up some impressive numbers throughout the next three seasons.

After three seasons, Charlton left South Carolina as the all-time school leader with 45.5 yards per punt. He also has the top two single season punting records for the Gamecocks with a 44.8-yard average in 2018 and a 47.7-yard average in 2019. Charlton was the Jim Carlen MVP for Special Teams in all three of his seasons as South Carolina’s punter.

As a rookie with the Panthers last season, Charlton averaged 46.3 yards on 45 punts. But he was inconsistent through five games this season, averaging just 39.1 yards on 21 punts. Four players have attempted a punt for the Panthers this season, including kicker Zane Gonzalez. Lachlan Edwards appears to have earned the punting job, and he has averaged 48.5 yards per punt on 11 punts through three games. Ryan Winslow also has 13 punts and is on the team’s practice squad.

The Panthers are currently 5-5 on the season and in third place in the NFC South.