"At his introductory press conference in January, Ron Rivera said he would prefer the Panthers find one tight end rather than the committee approach they used last season.

They might have found him. Emphasis on might.

The Panthers will bring veteran TE Jeremy Shockey in for a physical next week and could reunite Shockey with his University of Miami position coach – Carolina offensive coordinator Rob Chudzinski.

The move makes sense on a couple of levels, beginning with Shockey's familiarity with Chudzinski. Plus, as Rivera intimated at his presser, the type of offense he wants to run requires a capable tight end.

An AFC coordinator said this week the offense in San Diego, where Rivera and Chudzinski coached under Norv Turner, features a lot of route combinations involving the tight end.

The Chargers have one of the best in Antonio Gates.

When healthy, the 30-year-old Shockey, who was released by New Orleans last week, was among the top pass-catching tight ends in the league. "