Between untimely injuries and a lack of consistent opportunities, wide receiver Damiere Byrd simply couldn’t settle in as a Carolina Panther. Perhaps a migration to the west coast will help him find his place in the NFL.
As reported by Darren Urban, Byrd has agreed to a one-year deal with the Arizona Cardinals. The 5-foot-9, 180-pound speedster will look to fill multiple areas of need for first-year head coach Kilff Kingsbury, most notably on the outside as an explosive downfield threat.
An undrafted free agent out of the University of South Carolina, Byrd first signed with Carolina on May 8, 2015. After spending his entire rookie year on the team’s practice squad, he went on to play in 17 games between 2016 and 2018, totaling 129 yards and two touchdowns on 12 receptions.
His most memorable moment came in the Panthers’ Week 15 win over the Green Bay Packers in 2017. In what he later dubbed as “butt drag swag,” Byrd caught a pass in the back of the end zone—a play which was initially ruled as an incompletion—he managed to squeeze both his cheeks into the paint for an improbable score, one of his two on the afternoon.
Byrd undertook key special teams duties as well, averaging 9.4 yards per punt return and 29.4 yards per kickoff return. His 103-yard kickoff return for a touchdown still stands as a franchise record.
With Byrd and Kenjon Barner both gone, the Panthers will have to distribute kick returner reps elsewhere this upcoming season. While they may be preserved for their increasing roles on offense, receivers D.J. Moore and Curtis Samuel should be on the list of potential options, and so should slot cornerback Corn Elder.
