"The Carolina Panthers won't be seeing running back DeAngelo Williams again this year.

The question now becomes whether they'll see him again period.

Williams' season ended Wednesday when he was placed on injured reserve with a right mid-foot sprain. Coach John Fox said the injury - suffered during the game-winning drive against San Francisco - was "healing a little slower than originally expected," and would have taken the star running back at least another two to three weeks to get back on the field.

Wednesday's move was for the short term - as they had to clear roster spots so they could add quarterback and offensive line depth - but carries long-term implications as well.

Williams' five-year contract, signed after he was chosen in the first round of the 2006 draft, will expire after the season, and like the rest of the Panthers' pending free agents, he's had to wait to hear anything from the team. He said in the spring he wasn't "upset or aggravated or anything like that" because the team hadn't addressed or upgraded his deal.

He wasn't available for comment Wednesday, as he received treatment while the team was practicing and left the facility before reporters were allowed into the locker room.

"I'm in no shape, form or fashion upset with anybody because I haven't gotten a new deal," Williams said in May. "I just know at the end of this fifth year, somebody's got to make some decisions."

Williams' agent, Jimmy Sexton, said he hadn't had any substantive conversations with the Panthers about the future, and wouldn't speculate on whether he expected to this offseason.

Panthers general manager Marty Hurney wouldn't comment specifically on Williams or any other player, but emphasized the message of the year, which was that the team wanted to hang onto emerging players such as Thomas Davis, Williams and center Ryan Kalil, among others."