The Panthers opened Monday with three quarterbacks on their 40-man roster and they’ll close the day with four.
The team announced that Garrett Gilbert has been promoted to the active roster from the practice squad. Safety Dez Southward was dropped from the roster in a corresponding move.
Gilbert was a Rams sixth-round pick in 2014 and spent time on the practice squad or offeseason rosters for the Patriots, Lions and Raiders before signing with the Panthers this year. He signed to the practice squad after failing to make the 53-man roster.
Gilbert joins Cam Newton, Derek Anderson and Brad Kaaya on the active roster, which suggests that there’s something else going on right now. There could be an injury, another roster move could be planned or someone may have been poised to poach Gilbert and the Panthers decided to promote him before that could happen.
