How 11 notable former Carolina Panthers are faring with their new teams in 2023

It’s no secret the Carolina Panthers started anew this season.

They ushered in a new coaching staff. They drafted a young quarterback and signed a veteran one. They paid for a premier running back, restocked the receiving corps and added experience to the secondary.

That has meant a lot of new faces, sure, continuing a years-long trend of locker room turnover for this franchise. But it also has meant that several former Panthers are now spread throughout the NFL.

With Carolina on its bye, here’s who Panthers fans might recognize when they tune into this week’s slate of NFL games — plus a few notable free agents.

Christian McCaffrey, San Francisco 49ers

Christian McCaffrey, among the most prolific running backs in Panthers history, is having quite the year in his new home. Through six games, he has 110 carries for 553 yards and seven touchdowns, and he’s added 23 receptions and two touchdowns receiving. The 27-year-old everything-back is +2500 for odds on winning the league’s Most Valuable Player trophy, per some sports books, and is a centerpiece for a 49ers team (5-1) with Super Bowl aspirations.

McCaffrey was traded in Oct. 2022 for a handful of draft picks, most of which were spent this past April.

The All-Pro back’s numbers in Carolina, especially in his last few years, were diluted by injuries. He has largely avoided that problem in San Francisco to date, though he’s working through an oblique/rib injury now. His chances of playing in the team’s Monday Night Football contest against the Vikings are still up in the air.

DJ Moore, Chicago Bears

Through six games with the Chicago Bears (1-5), receiver DJ Moore is about as productive as he’s ever been. The 2018 Panthers first-round draft pick, who was involved in the blockbuster offseason trade that delivered Carolina its prized No. 1 overall pick, has 32 receptions for 582 yards and five touchdowns on the year. A bulk of that production came in the Bears’ only win of 2023 to date — sending the Panthers fan base into an understandable spiral.

He is on track to break many season career-bests this year. That includes most receptions (93 in 2021), most yards (1,193 in 2020) and touchdowns (seven in 2022). The Bears play the Raiders at 1 p.m. on Sunday.

Baker Mayfield, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Baker Mayfield, simply put, looks like a new player with the Bucs. The former Heisman Trophy quarterback was expected to lift the Panthers out of the quarterbackless doldrums they’d been in since the departure of Cam Newton — but that famously didn’t happen. He was subsequently released and somehow landed with NFC South foe Tampa Bay, where he has 1,088 yards passing and seven touchdowns and three interceptions on 3-2 team with playoff hopes. Those only two losses? To Super Bowl contenders Philadelphia and Detroit. The Bucs play Atlanta at 7 p.m. on Sunday.

PJ Walker, Cleveland Browns

PJ Walker, the quarterback who was third on the Panthers’ depth chart last year — and who was starting by the end of it — has already made his mark with a new team in 2023. He was started in place of an injured Deshaun Watson in Week 6, and he completed 18 of 34 passes for 192 yards and was intercepted twice. Not-great stat line aside, it was enough to deliver the Browns (3-2) a 19-17 win over the then-undefeated 49ers.

Walker might get another start this week after Watson didn’t practice Wednesday with a shoulder injury. The Browns play the Colts at 1 p.m. on Sunday.

Sam Darnold, San Francisco 49ers

Sam Darnold was a free agent at the end of last year and was signed by the 49ers. Since then, he’s moved into the QB2 role, backing up Brock Purdy. His role on one of the best offenses in the NFL has been quite limited thus far. He’s only notched passing stats in one game, and that was when he went 1-for-1 for 1 yard in a 42-10 win over the Dallas Cowboys.

D’Onta Foreman, Chicago Bears

The bruising back for the Panthers in 2022 was signed by the Chicago Bears this past offseason. And while he’s largely played a reserve role to date — 20 carries for 81 yards in two games played — he might get a chance to shine bright Week 7 with the team’s backfield in injured disrepair.

Robbie Chosen, Miami Dolphins

Robbie Chosen, who most Panthers fans will recognize as Robbie Anderson, was traded in Oct. 2022 to the Arizona Cardinals for a pair of draft picks. He has since landed with the Miami Dolphins as a reserve wideout on the most explosive offense in the NFL and has one catch for 68 yards and a touchdown. The Dolphins play the Eagles at 8:20 p.m. on Sunday.

Josh Norman, Buffalo Bills

You might think this is a throwback name — and it absolutely is — but a reminder: The Panthers picked up cornerback Josh Norman in December 2022, too, while the Panthers dashed for a late-season playoff berth. Norman, 35, now gets another NFL life with the Buffalo Bills, which signed the once All-Pro defensive back to their practice squad earlier this month amid a rash of defensive injuries. It’s unclear if he’ll be active Week 7, when the Bills play the Patriots.

Shi Smith, Tennessee Titans

Shi Smith, the speedy receiver out of South Carolina, didn’t make the Panthers’ 53-man roster this season. He’s now on the Tennessee Titans’ practice squad.

Michael Jordan, Green Bay Packers

Michael Jordan — the former Panthers offensive lineman, not the North Carolina basketball legend and scrutinized former Hornets owner — signed with Green Bay’s practice squad in September after being cut by Carolina this preseason. He’s still with the Packers.

Keith Taylor, Kansas City Chiefs

The Panthers’ fifth-round pick in 2021 was released in the preseason, making him one of many Matt Rhule-era holdovers to hit the waiver wire. He signed with the Kansas City Chiefs shortly thereafter and is on their practice squad.

Two notable free agents

Matt Corral, QB: Many were surprised when the Panthers’ third-round draft pick in 2022 was waived by Carolina ahead of the 2023 season, particularly with how highly the organization talked about him, as well as the oft-discussed emergency quarterback rule the NFL implemented this offseason. Since then, Corral hasn’t found the NFL home he’s been searching for — getting released multiple times by the Patriots in September before spending the 2023 season to date as a free agent.

Marquan McCall, NT: The latest on Marquan McCall is that he’s a free agent. His departure from the Carolina Panthers was met with surprise initially — considering a few weeks prior he was a starter on the defensive line. He then was picked up off the waiver wire by the New England Patriots, and then a day later was reportedly released with a failed physical designation.