Yes! Whew... I was looking for a terrible pun.

This afternoon the Carolina Panthers elected to cut punter Jason Baker who underperformed, especially as a directional punter in 2011. As it stood Baker slowly declined from a solid punter, to a rather mediocre one- averaging just 42.7 yards per punt last season.

Now the Panthers will likely look to fill the role through the draft, with Joe Person postulating who it could be:

Don't be surprised to see the Panthers look for a punter late in the draft. Georgia's Drew Butler could be a target.

— Joe Person (@josephperson) March 14, 2012

This seems like a plausible target. I would add Shawn Powell of FSU and Kyle Martens of Rice, the three of whom represent the top three punters in the 2012 draft.

Thus far the organization have been pretty surgical in their first two free agencies with Rivera at the helm, as the quickly cut under-performing players and keep the guys they have plans for. It will be interesting to see what the Panthers do next.