The Carolina Panthers signed former South Carolina punter Joseph Charlton last week, seemingly to compete with ex-Tennessee punter Michael Palardy for the starting job.

However, it now appears they signed Charlton because of an injury to Palardy, as the team announced on Tuesday that Palardy would miss the entire 2020 season.

Palardy has been placed on the reserve/non-football injury list after suffering a torn ACL this offseason, according to the Panthers’ press release:

Palardy punted 75 times for the Panthers in 2019, averaging 46 yards per kick. He has been in Carolina since 2016.

Charlton went undrafted in the 2020 NFL Draft, but signed a free agent deal with the team last week.