Gano (foot) has been medically cleared after undergoing surgery on his heel this offseason, Bryan Strickland of the Panthers' official site reports. "It's really nice to be able to kick without pain," the kicker added.

EDGE Analysis

Gano dealt with a nagging injury to a bone in the heel of his plant foot for a large portion of the 2016 campaign and in Week 14 that very bone snapped in half while attempting a kickoff. He managed to play through the pain for the remainder of the season but made just 66 percent of his field goals during the Panthers' final three games. The veteran kicker ultimately underwent surgery to fix the problem in January and, now that he's back to full heath, will need to show there are no lingering effects from the procedure in order to fend off seventh-round rookie Harrison Butker and re-establish himself as one of the better kickers in the NFC.