The Panthers got a head start on this week’s cuts before their Sunday afternoon practice. They released 10 players, including WRs Tiquan Underwood, Marvin McNutt and Kealoha Pilares. The only relative surprise was the trio didn’t even make it to the second round of cuts.

“We have some young (receivers) that we feel have to get a lot more reps – Philly (Brown) being one of them,” head coach Ron Rivera said. “Having some of the other guys in cut into rep time.”

Underwood, who was signed as a free agent in March, came in with high expectations, but he never turned into a consistent deep threat. McNutt struggled all summer, and Pilares didn’t stand out after returning from a torn ACL that took away his 2013 season. His release leaves quarterback Cam Newton as the only remaining player from Carolina’s 2011 draft class.

A fifth-round pick, Pilares returned a kickoff for a touchdown as a rookie, but he caught just two passes his first two years.

“With a young guy like that and guy that’s had success for you, you’d like to give the guy an opportunity to get out there early and see if there’s some interest in who he is,” Rivera said. “The door is never closed. We don’t close the door on a lot of guys. He’s one of the guys obviously the door won’t close on depending on situations and circumstances.”

The league deadline to cut down to 75 players is Tuesday at 4 p.m., so the Panthers have four more cuts to make by then. Teams then have until 4 p.m. Saturday to shave their rosters to the 53-man limit.

Here’s the full list of Carolina’s first cuts:

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