- De’Andre Presley, who was a cornerback on the Panthers’ practice squad in 2013, was moved to receiver this spring.
- The former Appalachian State quarterback and cornerback had surgery in August for a stress fracture in his left shin.
- The Panthers put him on the physically unable to perform list before the season. PUP rules required him to sit out the first six games of the season.
- After those six games, the Panthers had a five-week window to let Presley start practicing. He returned to practice as soon as he was eligible in Week 7. A week later, while the Panthers were dealing with issues at cornerback, Presley switched sides and started helping out at nickel corner.
- When Presley returned to practice, that opened a 21-day window where the Panthers had to decide if they wanted to activate him to the 53-man roster. That window was going to close this week. If they decided not to activate Presley, he would have had to stay on PUP the rest of the season. If he stayed on PUP after this week, he would have to stop practicing, losing valuable experience.
- The Panthers ultimately wanted to move Presley over to their practice squad, but: 1.) NFL rules prohibit teams from moving a player directly from PUP to their practice squads; 2.) If a team releases a player while he is on PUP, they are not allowed to add him to their practice squad.
- So on Monday, the Panthers activated Presley. They made space for him by releasing running back Chris Ogbonnaya.
- The Panthers then released Presley on Tuesday. They took a risk by putting him on waivers, but it was a small risk.
- The Panthers re-signed Ogbonnaya on Wednesday after he had cleared waivers. Essentially, they needed his roster spot the previous two days to maneuver with Presley.
- The Panthers added Presley to the practice squad on Thursday after he had cleared waivers.
Explaining This Week’s De’Andre Presley/Chris Ogbonnaya Dance
