Former Cardinals OL Jeremy Bridges returns to Carolina

With their offense line struggling to protect quarterback Cam Newton, the Carolina Panthers signed former Cardinal and one-time Panther Jeremy Bridges on Wednesday.

Bridges confirmed the news himself on Wednesday, via Twitter.

Bridges' arrival has to be music to the ears of a struggling Carolina offense, which is ranked 27th out of 32 NFL teams in scoring, averaging just 18.1 points per game. And simply put, most of the blame for those struggles has be placed along the offensive line; most recently, Carolina allowed seven sacks in Sunday's 38-14 loss to Denver.

Enter the 32-year-old Bridges, who last played for the Arizona Cardinals a season ago. Bridges was projected as a starter at guard in Arizona entering 2012, but an injured thumb forced him to be placed on the injured reserve list on Sept. 2. Last week, Bridges reached an injury settlement in Arizona, making him a free agent.

Now he returns to Carolina, where he played with the Panthers from 2006 to '08.

Bridges is expected to step in and immediately compete for a starting guard spot with Carolina.