The Carolina Panthers have continued to clean out their roster of veterans. After releasing safety Kurt Coleman and defensive end Charles Johnson earlier in the week, they’ve now cut veteran running back Jonathan Stewart, the team announced on their official website.
“Jonathan played the game the way you want. He brought an element of toughness as a runner that set the tempo for our team,” head coach Ron Rivera said. “He is a great pro, and I appreciate who he is as a young man and thank him for the contribution he made.”
Stewart was in the final year of his contract in 2018 after signing a one-year extension last offseason. The move will save the Panthers just over $3.7 million under the salary cap.
Stewart has spent his entire 10-year NFL career with the Panthers, who drafted him 13th overall in 2008. Although he rushed for over 1,000 yards just once in his career (during his second season in 2009), he still became the franchise’s all-time leading rusher with 7,318 yards as he passed former teammate DeAngelo Williams in Week 4 of last season against the New England Patriots.
During that 2009 season, Stewart and Williams became the first teammates in NFL history to rush for more than 1,110 yards each in the same season.
However, Stewart saw a substantial dip in his numbers last season. He finished with 680 rushing yards on 198 carries with six touchdowns. His 3.4 yards per carry was easily the lowest in his entire career. He picked up just 172 yards in his last six regular-season games.
Stewart’s release paves the way for 2017 first-round pick Christian McCaffrey to take over as the team’s featured back moving forward. McCaffrey is coming off a strong rookie season which saw him gain 435 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns, as well as 651 receiving yards on 80 catches with five receiving touchdowns. Fozzy Whittaker and Cameron Artis-Payne are also set to back McCaffrey up next season.
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