Biggest Winners and Losers from Carolina Panthers' Final 53-Man Roster Decision

Who made the cut? And who were the biggest winners and losers?

Carolina Panthers quarterback Haynes King (16) catches a ball during Fanfest | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The Carolina Panthers finalized their roster at 6 pm ET on Sunday. After four preseason games and loads of training camp practices, including a few joint sessions, the Panthers had a lot of data to sort through and a lot of players to decide on.

There weren't any huge surprises this year. There are some players, however, who really benefited from Carolina's decision-making process. Others, unfortunately, did not. Here are the big winners and losers of the final roster cull.

Winner: QB Haynes King

Perhaps the biggest winner from the Carolina Panthers' final decision is QB Haynes King. The former UDFA turned one Hall of Fame Game performance into a roster spot. Do you know how impressive you have to be to make it based off of roughly 2/3 of a game against backups for the backups of a bad team?

Loser: CB DeVonta Smith

Carolina Panthers cornerback DeVonta Smith (43) tries to stop wide receiver Jalen Coker | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

DeVonta Smith always faced a very uphill battle to making the roster. Still, he was pretty good this preseason, notably in the final game against the Houston Texans. With cornerback depth on the roster already, Smith was an unfortunate byproduct of the Panthers' strength. Still, he could land on an NFL roster, just maybe not with the Panthers.

Winner: DL Aaron Hall

The path to the roster was clear with Tershawn Wharton getting hurt and LaBryan Ray retiring abruptly. Still, it is no easy feat to make a roster in the NFL, especially as a rookie undrafted free agent. Aaron Hall did a lot of good work in the preseason and won over coaches in training camp, so he's a big winner.

Loser: OL Jake Curhan

Carolina Panthers offensive tackle Jake Curhan (74) looks on after the game | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Jake Curhan signed later in the offseason, but since he was a returning player from last year, it didn't really impact his readiness. That made it seem like he would sneak onto the final 53 as a valuable backup lineman who can play across the line. Unfortunately, the Panthers saw it differently, and he was cut.

Winner: WRs John Metchie and Jimmy Horn Jr.

The back end of the wide receiver depth chart was pretty crowded, to say the least. The Panthers seemed to have multiple players deserving of those final couple of spots, so it's a big win for John Metchie and Jimmy Horn Jr. to make it. This also makes Ja'seem Reed an unfortunate loser.

Loser: Elijah Garcia

Because of the Panthers' trade with the Chargers, it was clear they wanted more depth up front. But they had depth up front with Elijah Garcia and, to a lesser degree, Kyon Barrs. Garcia had a good Hall of Fame Game, but he fell off after that. And he got cut hours before the Panthers traded for his replacement.