Panthers sign K Catanzaro

The Carolina Panthers signed kicker Chandler Catanzaro, the team announced Friday. Catanzaro was brought in one day after Panthers kicker Graham Gano was limited in Thursday's practice due to a left knee injury. Carolina on Friday ruled Gano out for Sunday's matchup against the Cleveland Browns, paving the way for Catanzaro to make his Panthers debut. Gano has converted 14 of 16 field goal attempts this season but both his misses were costly. He was perfect until missing his first attempt in a 20-19 loss at Detroit in Week 11 and also misfired the following week in a 30-27 setback to Seattle. The 31-year-old Gano established a career-best 96.7 percentage last season when he nailed 29 of 30 field goal attempts. His only miss was from beyond 50 yards. Catanzaro opened the season with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers but was released on Nov. 13, two days after missing a pair of field goals in a 16-3 loss to Washington. The Buccaneers signed Catanzaro to a three-year contract in March after he converted 25 of 30 field goal attempts for the New York Jets in 2017. Catanzaro spent his first three seasons with the Arizona Cardinals, tying an NFL record by nailing the first 17 field goal attempts of his career during his rookie campaign in 2014. He missed only seven of 64 chances in his first two seasons before dipping to 21 of 28 in 2016. To make room for Catanzaro on the 53-man roster, Carolina placed guard Amini Silatolu (knee) on injured reserve.