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No one has been a more consistent tackling machine for the Panthers than Jon Beason. (PHOTO: MATTHEW BRINKLEY / PANTHERS.COM)

CHARLOTTE -- With a 13-tackle performance in Sunday's win over the Saints, Jon Beason broke his own team record for tackles, finishing the season with 169 -- nine higher than his previous standard established as a rookie two years earlier.

Beason's three seasons as a Panther have witnessed the three top tackle tallies in franchise annals -- 160 in 2007, 159 in 2008 and 169 this year. The next-best figure in history is by linebacker Micheal Barrow, who, like Beason, is a University of Miami product.

TOP TACKLE TOTALS IN PANTHERS HISTORY
PLAYER	YEAR	TACKLES
Jon Beason	2009	169
Jon Beason	2007	160
Jon Beason	2008	159
Micheal Barrow	1998	158
Chad Cota	1997	153
Mike Minter	2000	142
Sam Mills	1996	138
Thomas Davis	2008	136
Micheal Barrow	1999	131
Sam Mills	1995	130

STICKING AROUND: Three members of the Panthers' season-ending practice squad signed reserve-future contracts to remain with the team this week: wide receiver Dexter Jackson, defensive end Eric Moore and cornerback Marcus Walker. Jackson and Moore were midseason pickups, while Walker spent the entire season on the practice squad, joining the team the day after the 53-man roster deadline.

Jackson, Moore and Walker will officially be on the roster after Super Bowl XLIV, when the season officially concludes and the roster size increases to 80 players, where it will remain until the first roster deadline in August.

The Panthers closed the season with seven players on their practice squad after promoting linebacker Mortty Ivy to the 53-man roster when Steve Smith was placed on injured reserve last Friday. Ivy was one of two practice-squad members promoted to the main roster this year; quarterback Hunter Cantwell was the other.

NEW FACE: Joining Jackson, Moore and Walker as reserve-future signees was former Wake Forest offensive lineman Steve Justice, who was a sixth-round pick of the Indianapolis Colts in 2008, playing eight games for them that season.

Justice spent the 2009 season with the New York Sentinels of the United Football League and is the third UFL product to sign with the Panthers, joining linebacker Quinton Culberson and offensive lineman Rob Petitti.

A NOTE ON NEXT YEAR'S OPPONENTS: The scheduling rotation in place since 2002 -- which sees teams face each other division in their conference at least once every three years and each from the opposite conference once every four -- continues this year, but with a twist involving the western divisions. Specifically, the teams from the NFC and AFC West have been broken into different couplets, which reduces the travel and time-zone disruption faced by Eastern Time Zone teams each year.

NFL owners approved a resolution altering the tweaks last March.

In 2004, the Panthers and Falcons had to travel to San Francisco and Seattle, because those teams were paired together for scheduling purposes. The pairings reversed in 2007, sending the Panthers and Falcons to Arizona and St. Louis while the Seahawks and 49ers visited Bank of America Stadium.

The Panthers could still have two three-time-zone trips if they play the Cardinals in September or October. Arizona does not observe Daylight Savings Time, meaning that the state is three hours behind the East Coast from mid-March until the first Sunday of November. Last year, the Panthers traveled to Arizona on the time-change weekend.

As a result of the changes, the 49ers will make their second trip to Charlotte in three years, while the Panthers will play at Arizona for the third time since 2007 (they met at University of Phoenix Stadium last November because the clubs finished in first place the year before).