Panthers to meet with Kenny Pickett, five other quarterbacks

Pickett will join Matt Corral (Ole Miss), Sam Howell (North Carolina), Desmond Ridder (Cincinnati) and Bailey Zappe (Western Kentucky) on “30” visits, Albert Breer of SI.com tweets. These meetings will take place between Monday and Wednesday of next week in Charlotte.

Missing out on Deshaun Watson, Carolina still has veteran options available. But the team has not expressed interest in Jimmy Garoppolo and is not believed to want Baker Mayfield. The team’s interest in a veteran could change, but Sam Darnold is under contract on an $18.9M fifth-year option. An additional veteran would create an expensive QB room, and second-year GM Scott Fitterer discussed the benefits of having a rookie-deal quarterback on the payroll recently.

While Willis or Pickett — a former Matt Rhule Temple recruit who decommitted after Rhule’s Baylor departure — would require Carolina’s first-round pick, the rest of this crop is not on the top-10 radar. But the Panthers traded away their second- and third-round picks last year in deals for Darnold and C.J. Henderson. This limits the team’s options, barring a trade-down effort in Round 1. As for the prospect of Pickett at No. 6, the Panthers were linked to the Pittsburgh passer after the Senior Bowl.

Scouts Inc. ranks Corral and Ridder as the Nos. 34 and 36 overall prospects, respectively, while slotting Howell 50th. Zappe, who played in a pass-crazed system in his only Division I season and broke Joe Burrow‘s touchdown pass record by compiling 62 for the Hilltoppers, profiles as a Day 3 prospect, ranking 139th.