Panthers HC Dave Canales explains release of OLB K'Lavon Chaisson

The Carolina Panthers are going trial by fire off the edge.

On Tuesday, the team released their first unofficial depth chart of the 2024 regular season. One of the most anticipated reveals came at the second starting outside linebacker position, where 2023 third-round pick DJ Johnson was listed.

Head coach Dave Canales was asked about Johnson’s standing across from fellow starter Jadeveon Clowney after Wednesday’s practice.

“Yeah, great starting point. He’s played a lot of football for us,” he said of the 25-year-old. “Right now, still, we’re looking for somebody to step up and take that job. So this is not something where it’s just like, ‘Hey, you’re the starter, here we go.’ This is like, ‘Show us. Show us what you’re about.’

“And again, this talks to the competitive nature of our team and the culture we wanna build in this building. We got a bunch of players with ability, and we wanna see who’s gonna step up and take that role. So you’re gonna see a rotation as we go with that whole group.”

That group won’t include former Jacksonville Jaguars first-round pick K’Lavon Chaisson, who was released by the Panthers yesterday. Canales was also asked about that move.

“I thought he had a really good role that he was starting to develop for himself—in terms of special teams,” he replied. “And we were looking for somebody to be a dynamic game-changer as far as the pass rush. And we added some people to our roster and to our practice squad that we’d love to take a look at to see if they can give us that spark we’re looking for.”

Behind Clowney and Johnson sit second-year defender Eku Leota and Jamie Sheriff, who was claimed off waivers from the Seattle Seahawks last week. The practice squad currently features three outside linebackers—Kenny Dyson, Thomas Incoom and Tarron Jackson.