Jon Beason may miss camp

Carolina Panthers linebacker Jon Beason told the media it’s “quite possible’’ he’ll miss training camp as he continues to recover from microfracture knee surgery.

That’s not really surprising because Beason missed all but five games over the last two seasons. Beason said his goal is to be ready for the regular-season opener and the team’s medical staff has told him he’ll have to manage pain.

That’s less than ideal as Beason transitions from middle linebacker to the outside. But Beason is a savvy veteran and should be able to get mental reps. As long as he can get healthy for the regular season, the Panthers should have a strong linebacker corps with Luke Kuechly and Thomas Davis as the other starters.

Given the uncertainty surrounding Beason, Carolina was wise to sign veteran free agent Chase Blackburn in the offseason.

Also, Beason said he restructured his contract to help the team. Beason had been scheduled to count $9.5 million toward this year’s salary cap. We don’t know how much the extension lowers that number, but I’ll let you know as soon as I get details in a few days.

Don’t look for the Panthers to go on a sudden spending spree. First off, there’s not much available right now. More importantly, general manager Dave Gettleman is likely to want to carry over as much cap space as possible until next year.


(espn.com)