SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Let’s end the talk that the Carolina Panthers should pursue former Indianapolis Colts wide receiver Reggie Wayne.
At least for now.
Despite losing No. 1 wide receiver Kelvin Benjamin to a season-ending knee injury on Wednesday, the Panthers appear content with the nine receivers currently on their roster.
They aren’t looking at Wayne, who wasn’t re-signed after 14 seasons in Indianapolis.
“No," coach Ron Rivera said on Thursday, when asked if the Panthers were shopping for a receiver. “We feel real good about who we have right now. We really do. We’ll see.
“We’ve got plenty of time. We’ve just got to be patient with them.
Wayne is intriguing. His 1,070 career catches for 14,345 yards and 82 touchdowns are more than the combined total of Carolina’s remaining receivers.
Devin Funchess, Corey Brown, Ted Ginn Jr., Jerricho Cotchery, Jarrett Boykin, Mike Brown, Damiere Byrd and Paul Browning have a combined 826 career catches for 11,325 yards and 59 touchdowns.
Wayne also is 36, set to turn 37.
He no longer has his biggest asset, speed. The Panthers have plenty of speed in Ginn and Brown.
The Panthers also have a veteran leader in Cotchery, 33.
They don’t need Wayne. They need one of their current players to step up, with Funchess being the most likely candidate to replace Benjamin because of his size (6-foot-4, 228 pounds) and speed.
“We drafted Devin for a reason. You want to have a big, quality receiver, and Devin gives us that still,’’ Rivera said.
“We’ve got to find answers for that, whether it’s a player stepping up or it’s by committee. But we’ve got to find the solution, and we will because we’ve got plenty of time right now.’’
