The #Panthers have waived TE Bryce Pierre off injured reserve. Pierre was placed on IR during the offseason program.
He was in Carolina all year in 2025 as a member of the offseason roster and p-squad.
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HOUSTON, TEXAS - AUGUST 16: Solomon Byrd #50 of the Houston Texans pressures Bryce Pierre #45 of the Carolina Panthers during the second half in the NFL Preseason 2025 game between Carolina Panthers and Houston Texans at NRG Stadium on August 16, 2025 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Alex Slitz/Getty Images)
The Carolina Panthers have moved on from tight end Bryce Pierre, waiving him from injured reserve on June 15 after his offseason injury situation lingered into the summer.
The move appeared on the NFL’s official transaction report and closes out Pierre’s latest chapter with Carolina before training camp. NFL Trade Rumors also listed the move under Monday’s transactions, noting that the Panthers waived Pierre from injured reserve.
Carolina previously waived Pierre with an injury designation on May 18, the same day the team signed defensive tackle Tywone Malone Jr. and running back Miles Davis. The Panthers’ own transaction log listed Pierre and running back Montrell Johnson Jr. as waived-injured in that roster shuffle.
Pierre then reverted to Carolina’s injured reserve after clearing waivers. The NFL’s reserve-list transaction page listed Pierre as “Reserve/Injured from Waived/Injured; Not Against 90” on May 19.
The June 15 move is the next step: Carolina waived Pierre from injured reserve, signaling the team is no longer keeping him in the building as an IR stash.
The #Panthers have waived TE Bryce Pierre off injured reserve. Pierre was placed on IR during the offseason program.
He was in Carolina all year in 2025 as a member of the offseason roster and p-squad.
Pierre was always facing a difficult path to a 53-man roster spot, but the Panthers had given him a longer look than many undrafted players get.
The former UCLA tight end signed with Carolina after the 2025 NFL draft and spent the 2025 season around the organization, including time on the practice squad. The Panthers then brought him back on a reserve/future contract in January, listing him among a large group of players signed after the season.
That gave Pierre a chance to compete through the offseason program and into training camp. Instead, his spring ended with an injury designation and a trip to injured reserve.
For players on the back end of the roster, that timing matters. May and June are when teams sort through developmental players, special teams candidates and position-depth projects. Missing that window can be costly, especially for an undrafted tight end who had not yet appeared in a regular-season game for Carolina.
Pierre’s size gave him a profile worth monitoring. ESPN lists him at 6-foot-5 and 255 pounds, with UCLA as his college. But tight end depth jobs are often decided by availability, blocking value, special teams work and how quickly a player can carve out trust in practice.
Once Pierre was unavailable, the Panthers did not wait until camp to reshape the bottom of the position group.
Pierre’s exit fits a broader theme for Carolina’s offseason: the Panthers have continued turning over the edges of the roster before camp.
At tight end specifically, Carolina signed Heinrich Haarberg on May 20 after waiving Pierre-injured two days earlier. The team then waived Haarberg on June 8 when it signed wide receiver Malick Meiga, according to the Panthers’ transaction log.
That does not make Pierre’s departure a major depth-chart shakeup, but it does show how little margin there is for developmental players at this stage of the NFL calendar. Carolina has been using the offseason to test roster fits, add bodies and move on quickly when a player’s path narrows.
Pierre came to the Panthers after one season at UCLA. The Bruins’ official bio credits him with 11 catches for 94 yards in 10 games during the 2024 season, including two starts. Before UCLA, he played at Arizona State, where he had 17 catches for 139 yards in 2023.
Erik Anderson is an award-winning sports journalist covering the NBA, MLB and NFL for Heavy.com. He also focuses on the trading card market. His work has appeared in nationally-recognized outlets including The New York Times, Associated Press , USA Today, and ESPN. More about Erik Anderson
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