CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- The Carolina Panthers acquired wide receiver Kevin Norwood in a trade with the Seattle Seahawks on Monday.
The Seahawks were planning to cut the 2014 fourth-round pick out of Alabama when the deal was struck for an undisclosed 2017 draft pick.
"Kevin gives us another player to compete at the wide receiver position," Panthers general manager Dave Gettleman said in a statement. "He has the size you look for along with toughness and smarts. We studied him a lot going into last year's draft and we look forward to having him as part of our receiving corps."
Carolina lost No. 1 receiver Kelvin Benjamin to a season-ending ACL injury in training camp. Second-round draft pick Devin Funchess, the top candidate to replace Benjamin, has been hampered by a hamstring injury and missed the past two preseason games.
Trainers had to work on Funchess again on Monday when the hamstring tightened.
Second-year player Corey Brown, who entered training camp as the other starting wide receiver, dropped four passes in Friday night's 17-16 loss to New England after dropping two the previous week against Miami.
Veteran Jerricho Cotchery is dealing with a groin injury, but he is expected to be ready for the Sept. 13 opener at Jacksonville. Coach Ron Rivera said on Monday no decision had been made on who would start the opener at receiver.
Norwood (6-foot-2, 200 pounds) appeared in nine games last season. He had nine catches for 102 yards and played 16 percent of the team's offense snaps.
He played on three national championship teams at Alabama, catching 81 passes for 1,275 yards and 12 touchdowns in his career.
ESPN.com's Sheil Kapadia contributed to this report.
