A full-circle approach to planning
The NFL allows teams two weeks from which to choose to hold their rookie minicamp. The Panthers, under the current staff, typically choose the second weekend.
"We've traditionally done it on Mother's Day weekend, not on Mother's Day for all the moms out there, so we cram it into two days," joked Canales.
It isn't just a random scheduling quirk, though. The Panthers, Canales shared, chose the second weekend for a couple of reasons, starting with the chance to scout other invitees.
"The pros on that approach is as guys go through a camp last weekend, not all of them are retained, so it gives us an opportunity to kind of bring a guy out that's been somewhere and he's acclimated a little bit, to get a look at them that way."
Of course, there is a risk-reward involved in that approach, Canales explained: "On the flip side of it, when you get guys in that first weekend, sometimes you have the first opportunity to keep those guys around on your roster. So there's two ways to look at it."
Each team takes a different approach to the number of guys they invite to fill out their camp roster. The Panthers, as mentioned above, had 36 guys on site. Other teams, such as the Titans, took a different approach. Tennessee had 77 total players in Nashville, 58 of whom were camp invites. The Kansas City Chiefs invited 76 players, totaling 104 camp participants.
Carolina invited 11 guys as rookie minicamp participants outside of draft picks, UDFAs, and current players. Two of those 11 were in minicamps last weekend with the Tennessee Titans: Corners Tony Grimes and Blake Cotton.