Bills predicted to cut former Panthers great before 2025 NFL season even begins

Shaq Thompson had a good run with the Carolina Panthers, putting in 123 games over 10 years. While he never made a Pro Bowl team or led the league in tackles, Thompson played his spot at a pretty high level far longer than the average NFL player's career lasts.

You don't have to remind Panthers fans that all good things come to an end, and the inevitable decline for Thompson unfortunately came in the form of injuries which have limited him to playing just six games over the last two years. So, when his contract was up in March Carolina decided not to re-sign him.

Naturally, Thompson went where all Panthers eventually go - signing with the Buffalo Bills on a one-year deal worth up to $1.255 million. At that price it's practically impossible for Thompson's contract to age poorly and it's not like the Bills are loaded at linebacker.

Then again, Thompson is now 31 years old and the 2022 season (his last healthy year) was a very long time ago in football years. His decline arguably began even before he missed 28 games due to injuries - PFF's tackling grades for Thompson started sliding back in 2021.

So, Panthers fans shouldn't be surprised if Thompson doesn't end up seeing much playing time in Buffalo this year. In fact, according to one Bills insider he won't even make the initial 53-man roster.

According to The Athletic's Joe Buscaglia, Buffalo will release Thompson on roster cut-down day. However, he does expect them to try to get him back on their practice squad.

"As for the released players, Edefuan Ulofoshio improved as the season went on last year, but he didn’t prove to be such an overwhelming special teams player that would make the Bills feel like they couldn’t subject him to waivers. In this case, the Bills would likely try to get both Ulofoshio and veteran Shaq Thompson back on the practice squad..."

That would be a pretty hard fall for a player with over 100 career starts at this level, but it happens to everybody, eventually.

As for the Panthers, they'll be moving forward with Josey Jewell and either Trevin Wallace or Christian Rozeboom starting at linebacker this year. The rest of their depth chart is up for grabs, but they probably wouldn't be interested in a Thompson reunion unless that unit gets ravaged by injuries.

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