Could Hayden Hurst Be on the Move?

The Panthers starting tight end is losing grasp of his role.

Hayden Hurst's role has almost completely vanished in the Carolina Panthers' offense and in this past week's win over Houston, he appeared in only 33% of the teams' offensive snaps compared to Tommy Tremble, who was in on 54% of the snaps.

Although Tremble hasn't boasted huge numbers over the last two weeks, he appears to have supplanted Hurst as Carolina's No. 1 tight end. Head coach Frank Reich was asked about the division of snaps on Monday afternoon.

"That's just more rotation. Credit to Tommy (Tremble), he's playing good football. And we love Hayden. Hayden is playing good football. We love all our players, but just because you're named starter at the beginning of the year doesn't mean that you're guaranteed to get all the reps and all the touches as it goes."

The decline of snaps and lack of targets make Hurst a prime trade candidate. Contending teams that are searching for pass catching help would love to add a veteran tight end at the trade deadline and it makes all the sense in the world for Carolina to make a move. Hurst has never been a premier receiving threat and at age 30, he's likely reached his peak. Whatever the Panthers get in return will be well worth it. Any draft assets help, but it also frees up snaps for Tremble to clearly take over and get a long look as the top option at the position.

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