The Panthers traded an undisclosed draft pick to the Browns for DT Louis Leonard. Photo by AP.

   CHARLOTTE – The Carolina Panthers actually made some news on the field Tuesday.
   The Panthers finally made a move to bolster their thin defensive tackle position by trading a late-round draft pick in 2010 to the Cleveland Browns for Louis Leonard. He played two seasons for the Browns, but was found himself out of place when the team switched to a 3-4 defense this year.
   The Panthers also placed safety Nate Salley (knee) on injured reserve for the second time in three years and released undrafted rookie defensive tackle Lonnie Harvey to get down to the league limit of 75 players. It's unclear at this point if the team will try to reach an injury settlement with Salley, who is due to cost the Panthers $1.01 million under the salary cap.

   They must trim their roster to 53 by 4 p.m. Saturday.
   Leonard, 25, is expected to compete with Nick Hayden for a starting job.
   “He’s got some athletic ability and he’s a guy our scouts have had their eye on the last couple of years,” said general manager Marty Hurney.
   At 6-foot-4 and 325 pounds, Leonard is better suited as a nose tackle than Hayden (6-4, 292).
   Leonard appeared in 20 games with four starts over two seasons with Cleveland in 2007 and 2008, posting 33 tackles. Originally signed as an undrafted rookie free agent by San Diego in 2007, he spent two weeks on the Chargers' practice squad before being signed by the St. Louis Rams to the active roster Sept. 12, 2007. He was waived by St. Louis in October of that same year and was signed by Cleveland as a free agent a day later.
   The Panthers will pick up Leonard's $460,000 salary. In return, the Browns get a late-round draft pick for Leonard, believed to be Carolina's seventh-round pick. The Panthers already dealt their first-round pick in 2010 to San Francisco to select Florida State defensive end Everette Brown and sent a seventh-round pick in 2011 to Green Bay for long snapper J.J. Jansen.
   Leonard practiced with the team Tuesday, but wasn’t available for interviews as he stayed after practice to talk with defensive line coach Brian Baker.
   There’s a decent chance the Panthers could further address the defensive tackle position this weekend after other teams makes cuts on Saturday.
   INJURY UPDATE: In injury news, starting FS Charles Godfrey returned to practice wearing a cast on his hand.
   However, LB Na’il Diggs joined RB Jonathan Stewart, LB Jon Beason, DB Sherrod Martin, CB Dante Wesley and RB Decori Birmingham on the sidelines.  It’s suspected that a worried Stewart had a second medical opinion on his injured Achilles when he missed practice on Monday, although coach John Fox wouldn’t confirm it.